Rah Lan Hip

Following his arrest in May 2019, Rah Lan Hip, a Protestant Christian, was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by three years probation, by the People’s Court of Gia Lai Province, on August 9th, 2019, after being convicted of “undermining the unity policy” when he encouraged ethnic minority Degar Protestants to resist government pressure to renounce their faith.

According to the indictment, Rah Lan Hip used his Facebook account “Kieu Rah Lan” to share multiple posts about Degar Protestantism. According to articles appearing in state media, the government doesn’t consider Degar Christianity a religious group but rather a separatist political movement controlled by “hostile forces” aiming to undermine the country’s policy of national unity. According to human rights activists, between June 2018 and March 2019, Rah Lan Hip and two other individuals used Facebook to contact 1,304 Degar Protestants, including two recently released from prison, to encourage them to resist authorities’ efforts to persuade them to renounce their Degar Protestant faith. Rah Lan Hip has a wife and five children.