August 27, 2014

Dozens of Vietnamese Detained outside Courtroom against Activists

by • Bui Thi Minh Hang, Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh, Nguyen Van Minh

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by Vu Quoc Ngu | Aug 26, 2014
Vietnam’s security forces have put in jail more than 20 Vietnamese activists who sought to attend an open trial for three social activists charged with bogus traffic offence, observers said.
Rights Activists Bui Thi Minh Hang and Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh. Courtesy of Dan Lam Bao and contributors

Rights Activists Bui Thi Minh Hang and Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh.
Courtesy of Dan Lam Bao and contributors

Many Vietnamese activists from across the nation have gathered in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap since Aug 25, one day prior to the hearing on land rights activist Bui Thi Minh Hang and her two friends, who are charged to cause public disorder under Article 245 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code.

However, activists have been harassed by the Vietnamese security forces who came to their hotel rooms and asked for registration during the night.
 
Among the arrested are former political prisoners and members of unlicensed civil societies, including the Association of Political & Religious Prisoners of Vietnam, the Vietnam Path Movement, the Brotherhood for Democracy and the Vietnamese Women for Human Rights.
 
It is unclear how long they will be held, observers said.
 
Meanwhile, the hearing of Mrs. Hang, Mr. Nguyen Van Minh and Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh is conducted without participation of their relatives and friends.
 
The trio, together with 18 other bloggers and Hoa Hao Buddhist activists rode motorbikes from Ho Chi Minh City to Lap Vo district in Dong Thap province to visit former political prisoner Nguyen Bac Truyen. In the middle of way, the group was stopped by police for an alleged traffic violation. The police then arrested all the activists, but only charged prominent blogger Hang, 50, rights activist Quynh, 28, and independent Hoa Hao Buddhist practitioner Minh, 34.
 
The case is poorly political one aiming to suppress social activists who have voiced against corruption, economic mismanagement and weak response against the Chinese violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea, said political observers.
 
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of the Human Rights Watch said that the Vietnamese government is now resorting to bogus traffic offenses to criminally prosecute activists. Vietnam should recognize this case is not worth the international ridicule it will cause and drop the charges immediately, he said.
 
The trial took place in the context that President of the European Commission (EC) José Manuel Durão Barroso is on a two-day visit to Hanoi on Aug 25-26 at the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in order to beef up the bilateral strategic partnership and accelerate negotiations for a free trade agreement.
 
In the joint statement posted the Vietnamese government’s website, the two sides agreed that human rights, the state of rules, and respecting the human rights based on international norms will do good to the development from the point of view of a nation and the international arena.
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