Dennis Chau is the son of Vietnamese political prisoner Van Kham Chau, who was detained by authorities in January 2019 while visiting the country. Chau’s father is an Australian citizen and retired businessman from Sydney who fled Vietnam in 1982, continuing to advocate for human rights, democracy, and fundamental freedoms after leaving the country. Last year, Chau’s father was arrested in Ho Chi Minh after meeting with a civil society activist and charged with conspiring against the Vietnamese government. After being detained on trumped-up charges and denied access to a lawyer, Chau’s father was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Dennis Chau has called attention to the injustice done to his father by developing a global support network to help bring him home. Chau has been an unyielding voice on behalf of his family, raising his father’s situation on media outlets worldwide. His motivation to advocate for his father’s release, reforms to Vietnam’s judicial system, and human rights generally is in the spirit of his father’s commitment to the promotion of fundamental freedoms in Vietnam.
