Vietnam Issues Arrest Warrant for Journalist Doan Bao Chau

August 15, 2025 – Vietnam – 

Vietnamese authorities issued a special arrest warrant for journalist Doan Bao Chau, accusing him of propagandizing against the state. The warrant was issued by the Hanoi municipal police and charged him with making, storing, disseminating, or spreading information aimed at opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This development was reported by state media and confirmed by Doan via messaging app to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Doan Bao Chau, a former freelance photographer for international agencies including the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France‑Presse, and a former reporter for The New York Times, currently reports via his personal Facebook page with over 200,000 followers. He has been in hiding since June 2024 after a travel ban was imposed, and he received repeated police summons related to his reporting.

On July 3, 2025, over 20 officers raided his home in Hanoi and formally charged him under Article 117 of the penal code. Under that law, the maximum penalty is a 20‑year prison sentence. CPJ condemned the warrant, stating that Vietnam must repeal it, drop all charges, and stop its legal harassment of the journalist. CPJ’s Southeast Asia representative, Shawn Crispin, criticized the legal system’s use as a tool to silence the media.

Vietnam frequently uses vaguely worded anti‑state provisions to prosecute and intimidate journalists, according to CPJ research. As of December 1, 2024, Vietnam had at least 16 journalists behind bars, tying with Iran and Eritrea as the seventh‑worst jailer of journalists globally.

The issuance of the warrant underscores persistent threats to press freedom in Vietnam, especially against independent voices using social media and citizen reporting. It captures a troubling trend in which legal mechanisms are deployed to suppress dissent rather than protect democratic expression.

Let me know if you would like more background on Doan Bao Chau’s earlier reporting, updates on his current whereabouts, or the status of similar cases in Vietnam.

Reference – 

Vietnam issues arrest warrant for journalist in hiding Doan Bao Chau