Nguyễn Tiến Trung

He was released in April, 2014 to be returned to his home under local supervision and serve the remaining three years under house arrest.

Nguyễn Tiến Trung (born 1983 in Hung Ha district, Thai Binh province) is a pro-democracy activist in Vietnam. As the founder and leader of the Assembly of Vietnamese Youth for Democracy Trung has been one of the outspoken political dissidents in Vietnam. He was arrested on July 7, 2009, by the public security of Vietnam for allegedly "plotting to overthrow the government of Vietnam." The accusation was persistently rejected domestically and internationally by some Vietnam analysts such as Pham Hong Son and Carl Thayer.

Shortly after his return to Vietnam in 2007, Trung was called to present for military service in March 2008. According to his mother, he declined to take the Army's honor oath as he claimed it deviated from the revolutionary spirit set forth by Ho Chi Minh. Trung was dismissed from the military on 6 July 2009 but then arrested the very next day and charged with violating the 88th article of Criminal Code, allegedly for "plotting to overthrow the government of Vietnam".

The THTNDC in the meantime set up a new radio channel for Vietnamese youths in March 2007, broadcasting from Yahoo blog 360, twice weekly in 15–20 minute segments. In its debut broadcast, 7000 listeners tuned in.

In a bold move in February 2006, Trung petitioned the Communist Party of Vietnam Tenth Congress, followed by a letter titled “Suggestions from an ordinary student” to the Minister of Education Nguyen Minh Hien, seeking redress in the ideologically overbearing dose of politics in Vietnam's education system. There was no official response.

On May 8, 2006, Nguyễn Tiến Trung officially founded the Assembly of Vietnamese Youth for Democracy (Tập hợp Thanh niên Dân chủ, THTNDC in Vietnamese, variously translated as "Movement of Democratic Youth" and "Democratic Youth of Vietnam"), calling for students to take part in pushing for political reforms in Vietnam. The goals set forth include disseminating democratic principles, creating a forum for the exchange of political ideas, and organizing for political activism despite the still one-party state in Vietnam.

Taking advantage of the 2006 APEC summit being hosted in Hanoi, THTNDC gathered signatures in mid-2006 petitioning the APEC leaders directly. Trung himself went to Canada seeking support from Canadian dignitaries to back the movement and the demand for democratic reforms. Furthermore, Trung met with President George W. Bush in the US and the members of the European Commission, enlisting their support.

On December 25, 2006, Nguyen Tien Trung formally submitted his application to the Vietnam Democratic Party (Đảng Dân chủ thế kỷ 21 [vi]), headed by professor Hoang Minh Chinh and Nguyen Si Binh (alias: Nguyen Trong Nghia). Trung rose in this organization and was appointed deputy secretary for the party, heading up Youth Affairs.

As a graduate of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology in 2002, Trung went abroad to attend the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA) in France in 2002 and earned a Master's degree in Information Technology in 2007. It was during this interval that Trung took an interest in political activism, pushing for greater democracy in Vietnam.