Vietnam Has Jailed This Top Climate Activist For Three Years For “Tax Evasion”
50-year-old Hoang Thi Minh Hong is one of Vietnam’s most prominent climate activists.
![Vietnam Has Jailed This Top Climate Activist For Three Years For “Tax Evasion”](/content/images/size/w1200/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/vietnam-hoang-thi-minh-hong-climate-activist-jailed.jpg)
Vietnam has jailed this top climate activist for three years for “tax evasion”.
![hang thi minh hong vietnam climate activist](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/hoang-thi-minh-hong-vietnam-climate-activist.jpg)
50-year-old Hoang Thi Minh Hong is one of Vietnam’s most prominent climate activists.
![vietnam hoang thi minh hong climate change](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/vietnam-hoang-thi-minh-hong-climate-change.jpg)
In 2013, Hong founded CHANGE, an environmental group, to get people in Vietnam, in particular young people, to take action on environmental issues.
![vietnam Hoang Thi Minh Hong climate activist](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/vietnam-hoang-thi-minh-hong-climate-activist.png)
But she shut down the group in 2022 after four activists were jailed for tax evasion.
![Hoang Thi Minh Hong foundation](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/hoang-thi-minh-hong-foundation.jpg)
She was detained in May and accused of dodging about US$275,000 in taxes related to CHANGE from 2012 to 2022.
![Hoang Thi Minh vietnam climate activist](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/hoang-thi-minh-vietnam-climate-activist.png)
![](https://www.almostmag.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/vietnam-climate-activist-Hoang-Thi-Minh-doging-taxes.webp)
On Thursday Sep. 28, Hong was found guilty and fined 100 million dong (or about US$4,100) in a trial that lasted only 3 hours.
![vietnam climate activist hoang thi minh hong](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/vietnam-climate-activitist-hoang-thi-minh-hong.png)
This makes her the fifth climate activist to be jailed over tax evasion in the country.
![Hoang Thi Minh Hong save the climate sign](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/hoang-thi-minh-hong-save-the-climate-sign.jpg)
In Vietnam, there is no specific law for NGOs to pay tax on overseas donations, and the country has used the ambiguous law to charge climate activists.
![vietnam climate activist Hoang Thi Minh jailed](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/vietnam-climate-activist-hoang-thi-minh-jailed.png)
Human rights groups condemned the ruling, calling it an example of the Vietnamese government weaponizing the law to target activists
![Hoang Thi Minh Hong on climate protest](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/hoang-thi-minh-hong-on-climate-portest.jpg)