VIETNAM PATH MOVEMENT: Statement on the August 26, 2014 Trial of Bui Thi Minh Hang, Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh, and Nguyen Van Minh

Vietnam Path Movement | 27/8/2014

In disregard of both public opinion and the call for the release of these three human rights activists from foreign governments and international human rights organizations, after six months of arbitrary detention without charges and even in violation of their own laws, on August 26, 2014, the government of Vietnam proceeded with the trial of three of its citizens, Bui Thi Minh Hang, Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh, and Nguyen Van Minh for violation of Article 245 of the Penal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for “disruption of public order.” The verdict sentenced the above-mentioned individuals to 36 months, 30 months, and 24 months for a total of 7.5 years in prison.
Bui thi Minh Hang, Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh and Nguyen Van Minh

Bui thi Minh Hang, Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh and Nguyen Van Minh

It is more concerning when the trial was announced to be “open to the public”. Several days before it was set to start, the police and secret police from the Public Security Ministry and national level to local authorities have systematically and publicly harassed, threatened, and prevented the concerned members of the public from attending the trial. Within 24 hours before the trial, at the People’s Court of Dong Thap, over 60 Vietnamese citizens, among them 6 were members of the Vietnam Path Movement and several important witnesses of the case, were arrested, isolated, and harassed so that they could not observe or attend the trial.

Therefore:

1. The arbitrary arrest and the trial of the above-mentioned individuals were a political agenda set out to oppress the human rights activist Bui Thi Minh Hang and her colleagues; and at the same time, it is a direct psychological attack on other dissidents and civil society activists who peacefully express their political opinions in Vietnam.

2. With regard to the three above-referenced individuals, all of the legal proceedings from the time they were arrested to the time of their trial have resulted from falsely created evidence that were poorly set up and in serious violations of Vietnamese own regulations regarding temporary detention (according to Article 119 of Vietnam Code of Criminal Proceedings), prisoners’ visitation rights, the right to an open and public trial according to the laws.

3. With regard to the public and its concerned citizens, the Vietnamese government has blatantly violated their freedom of speech, freedom to receive information, and at the same time trampled on its own laws (Section 1, Article 123 of the Vietnam Penal Code regarding “arrest, detention, and holding people who have acted in contrary to the laws), as well as the basic human rights when its police illegally arrested, detained and assaulted the people who wanted to attend the trial.

The Vietnam Path Movement strongly denounces the legal proceedings surrounding the arrest, trial, and the unjust verdict rendered against three of its citizens, Bui Thi Minh Hang, Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh, Nguyen Van Minh, by the Vietnamese government and its improper conduct in arresting and obstructing its own citizens who concerned about said trial. We believe that the falsely created indictment, arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as the trial that was nothing but a gross miscarriage of justice, and the oppression of the citizens who were trying to attend said trial, have sent a contradictory message to the international community from the government of Vietnam as a member of the UN Human Rights Council. It is especially a dangerous message for Vietnam at the time the country is seeking international support for its declining economy and the protection of its sovereignty against the threat of China’s aggression.

We hereby demand:

1. The government of Vietnam must set an example in respecting the Rule of Law to uphold social order, especially in a time where our society is faced with negativity and lacked the respect for the Rule of Law. Specifically, we call for an unconditional release of the three above-referenced citizens.

2. The government of Vietnam has to immediately cease all of its harassment in violation of of its people’s human rights, which includes the freedom of movement, the right to receive information, the right to receive a fair trial as well as all other international treaties in regard to arrest, detention, and criminal proceedings…, so that Vietnam would promptly join the progressive world in protecting the general values of human rights.

3. The Vietnam Path Movement, along with other civil society organizations, hereby calls on the United Nations, other international human rights organizations, and other governments to continue to demand the government of Vietnam to comply with its duty as a member of the international community and to cease all of its activities which suppress and imprison its citizens, who were expressing their patriotism against Chinese invasion or to demand democracy, liberty and social equality.

August 27, 2014.
On behalf of the Vietnam Path Movement
VPM Spokesperson
Le Quoc Tuan