Activists blocked by police and militia when they tried to attend the open trial against Mr. Dung on Dec 14
The People’s Court in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi on December 14 found Nguyen Viet Dung, the founder and leader of unsanctioned Republican Party of Vietnam, guilty of causing public disorders and sentenced him to 15 months in prison in the first hearing which failed to meet international standards of fair trial.
by Vu Quoc Ngu, Dec 14, 2015
The People’s Court in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi on December 14 found Nguyen Viet Dung, the founder and leader of unsanctioned Republican Party of Vietnam, guilty of causing public disorders and sentenced him to 15 months in prison in the first hearing which failed to meet international standards of fair trial.
Mr. Dung, 30, an engineer graduated from the prestigious Hanoi University of Science and Technology, was charged of committing public disorder under Article 245 of the country’s Penal Code, nine months after being detained by security forces in Vietnam’s capital city.
During the Monday trial held in Hoan Kiem district’s court, the judges rejected to listen to Dung’s four defending lawyers. They even expelled lawyer Le Van Luan and did not allow the three others to present their statements. The judges did not also respect statements of other witnesses which were in favor of the defendant, so the three lawyers left the courtroom before the trial ended.
The court’s judgment was based only on the fabricated reports of the Hoan Kiem district police, said defending lawyers.
Meanwhile, many activists tried to attend the open court, however, Hanoi’s authorities deployed a large number of police officers, plainclothes agents and militia to block all the roads leading to the courtroom. Police were reported to send thugs to attack activists, knocking down one land petitioner who fell unconscious.
On April 12, Mr. Dung and four friends were detained by Hanoi security forces right after they attended a peaceful demonstration in the city’s center to protest the local government’s plan which aimed to chop down 6,700 aged valuable trees in some of the city’s main streets.
The police released his friends but kept Dung and accused him of “causing public disorders”. Following Mr. Dung’s arrest, police conducted a search of his home and seized many other items associated with the former Republic of Vietnam.
Blogger Doan Tranh and Tuan Anh, organizers of the green protest said in their statement to the court that Mr. Dung and his friends peacefully attended the demonstration on April 12. However, the court ignored the opinions of environmental activists.
The arrest of Mr. Dung and the heavy sentence against him were made in a bid to suppress his peaceful political activities. In early April, Dung declared the founding of the Republican Party of Vietnam to fight for multi-party democracy and promote human rights in the Southeast Asian nation. So far, the party has eight members.
The detention of Mr. Dung has drawn great concern among Vietnamese and international human rights bodies. The unsanctioned Vietnam Blogger Network (VBN) released a statement condemning his arrest, saying his participation in the peaceful demonstration cannot be listed as public disturbance.
Based on the facts, the VBN considers the arrest of Mr. Dung by Hanoi’s police as arbitrary detention, showing the power abuse of police forces in the capital city. The arrest is a serious violation of human rights, it noted.
Mr. Dung’s imprisonment is closely related to his role in the establishment of the Republican Party of Vietnam, local observers said, adding the ruling party has vowed to keep the nation under one-party regime, and ordered the security forces not to allow opposition to be established.
Vietnam has intensified crackdown against local government critics and human rights activists in recent months ahead of the communist party’s National Congress which is slated in early 2016 to decide the country’s development course and elect the nation’s new leadership for the next five years.
The communist government has used controversial Articles 79, 88 and 258 of the Penal Code as well as other faked charges such as tax evasion and public disorders to stifle local dissents who bravely speak out about corruption, poor economic management and weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea.
According to international human rights bodies, Vietnam is imprisoning between 150 and 200 political dissidents, bloggers and human rights activists while Hanoi says it holds no prisoners of conscience but only law violators.
Recently, Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang, who is expected to hold higher position in the 2016-2021 period, labeled 60 unregistered civil societies as “reactionary groups”.
Last week, The People’s Court of Hanoi on December 9 rejected the appeal of land petitioner Vu Thi Hai, who is charged of causing public disorders when she and other land petitioners peacefully protested before the parliament’s building in June. However, the court reduced her sentence from 18 months to 15 months in prison.
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December 14, 2015
Hanoi Court Unfairly Sentences Leader of Unsanctioned Republican Party of Vietnam to 15 Months in Prison
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights], Nguyen Viet Dung
Activists blocked by police and militia when they tried to attend the open trial against Mr. Dung on Dec 14
by Vu Quoc Ngu, Dec 14, 2015
The People’s Court in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi on December 14 found Nguyen Viet Dung, the founder and leader of unsanctioned Republican Party of Vietnam, guilty of causing public disorders and sentenced him to 15 months in prison in the first hearing which failed to meet international standards of fair trial.
Mr. Dung, 30, an engineer graduated from the prestigious Hanoi University of Science and Technology, was charged of committing public disorder under Article 245 of the country’s Penal Code, nine months after being detained by security forces in Vietnam’s capital city.
During the Monday trial held in Hoan Kiem district’s court, the judges rejected to listen to Dung’s four defending lawyers. They even expelled lawyer Le Van Luan and did not allow the three others to present their statements. The judges did not also respect statements of other witnesses which were in favor of the defendant, so the three lawyers left the courtroom before the trial ended.
The court’s judgment was based only on the fabricated reports of the Hoan Kiem district police, said defending lawyers.
Meanwhile, many activists tried to attend the open court, however, Hanoi’s authorities deployed a large number of police officers, plainclothes agents and militia to block all the roads leading to the courtroom. Police were reported to send thugs to attack activists, knocking down one land petitioner who fell unconscious.
On April 12, Mr. Dung and four friends were detained by Hanoi security forces right after they attended a peaceful demonstration in the city’s center to protest the local government’s plan which aimed to chop down 6,700 aged valuable trees in some of the city’s main streets.
The police released his friends but kept Dung and accused him of “causing public disorders”. Following Mr. Dung’s arrest, police conducted a search of his home and seized many other items associated with the former Republic of Vietnam.
Blogger Doan Tranh and Tuan Anh, organizers of the green protest said in their statement to the court that Mr. Dung and his friends peacefully attended the demonstration on April 12. However, the court ignored the opinions of environmental activists.
The arrest of Mr. Dung and the heavy sentence against him were made in a bid to suppress his peaceful political activities. In early April, Dung declared the founding of the Republican Party of Vietnam to fight for multi-party democracy and promote human rights in the Southeast Asian nation. So far, the party has eight members.
The detention of Mr. Dung has drawn great concern among Vietnamese and international human rights bodies. The unsanctioned Vietnam Blogger Network (VBN) released a statement condemning his arrest, saying his participation in the peaceful demonstration cannot be listed as public disturbance.
Based on the facts, the VBN considers the arrest of Mr. Dung by Hanoi’s police as arbitrary detention, showing the power abuse of police forces in the capital city. The arrest is a serious violation of human rights, it noted.
Mr. Dung’s imprisonment is closely related to his role in the establishment of the Republican Party of Vietnam, local observers said, adding the ruling party has vowed to keep the nation under one-party regime, and ordered the security forces not to allow opposition to be established.
Vietnam has intensified crackdown against local government critics and human rights activists in recent months ahead of the communist party’s National Congress which is slated in early 2016 to decide the country’s development course and elect the nation’s new leadership for the next five years.
The communist government has used controversial Articles 79, 88 and 258 of the Penal Code as well as other faked charges such as tax evasion and public disorders to stifle local dissents who bravely speak out about corruption, poor economic management and weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea.
According to international human rights bodies, Vietnam is imprisoning between 150 and 200 political dissidents, bloggers and human rights activists while Hanoi says it holds no prisoners of conscience but only law violators.
Recently, Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang, who is expected to hold higher position in the 2016-2021 period, labeled 60 unregistered civil societies as “reactionary groups”.
Last week, The People’s Court of Hanoi on December 9 rejected the appeal of land petitioner Vu Thi Hai, who is charged of causing public disorders when she and other land petitioners peacefully protested before the parliament’s building in June. However, the court reduced her sentence from 18 months to 15 months in prison.