Vietnam plans to release nearly 3,800 prisoners, including foreign nationals, in its latest amnesty, according to a government announcement on Monday.
Since 2009, the country has granted nine special amnesties, freeing over 92,000 prisoners ahead of schedule. However, political activists remain excluded, with those convicted of "attempting to overthrow" the government or engaging in "terrorism" deemed ineligible for release.
This year's amnesty will release 3,765 detainees, including about 20 foreigners from Cambodia, China, Iceland, India, Laos, South Africa, and the United States.
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The prisoners are expected to be freed on Tuesday, following Vietnam’s National Day celebrations on September 2.
The move follows the early release of two high-profile detainees in mid-September. They included environmental activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong, who had been serving a three-year sentence for tax evasion linked to her environmental group, CHANGE, and political dissident Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, an internet entrepreneur sentenced to 16 years in 2010 for allegedly plotting against the regime.
Vietnamese officials did not disclose the current total prison population, although earlier reports in August indicated that around 643 foreign nationals were serving sentences in the country.
Human Rights Watch estimates that over 160 political prisoners remain incarcerated.
