Detained human rights lawyer and activist Nguyen Van Dai has received an award from Germany for his work.

According to Radio Free Asia’s Vietnamese Service, the human rights award is given every year to a judge, public prosecutor or other lawyers for outstanding work in the defence of human rights.

Recent laureates have included lawyers from Syria, Iran and China. However, Nguyen is the first Vietnamese person awarded the honour.

On Wednesday, Nguyen’s representative accepted the award from the German Association of Judges (DRB) – the largest professional organisation of judges and public prosecutors in the country.

In December 2015, Nguyen was taken into custody after he left his home to meet with a European Union delegation to participate in a human rights dialogue.

He was later charged with conducting propaganda against the state under Article 88 of the penal code and has been detained since.

In December last year, Vietnamese authorities extended his prison term to April – marking the third additional jail time since his arrest.

– TiVi Tuan-san