Vietnam Revokes Practice License of Human Rights Lawyer Vo An Don

Human rights attorney Vo An Don (middle) with relatives of a victim of torture

Defend the Defenders, November 26,

On November 26, the Bar Federation of Vietnam’s central province of Phu Yen issued a decision to revoke the lawyer practice license of human rights attorney Vo An Don.

The move is believed to be a response of Vietnam’s authorities to his brave activities which aim to protect imprisoned activists and the poor as well as victims of legal miscarriage given the fact that all professional associations in Vietnam are under close supervision of the government.

Mr. Don is the one who said the roles of lawyers in criminal cases in Vietnam are very weak and most of them work as bargainers between defendants and juries.

The license revoking was made four days ahead of the appeal hearing of prominent human rights activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (known as blogger Mother Mushroom). Mr. Don is among five lawyers hired by her family to defend for her in the upcoming hearing.

Mr. Don is among few lawyers involving in many political cases and cases related to human rights violations of state officials.

He played an important role in the prosecution of the deputy police head of Tuy Hoa town in a torture case in which local police officers beat a crime suspect to death during an interrogation.

Don has also given interviews to foreign media such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Voice of America Radio (VOA) in which he condemned human rights violations and criticized many government policies.

Vietnam has revoked lawyer practice license of a number of human rights activists including Le Cong Dinh, Le Quoc Quan, Le Thi Cong Nhan and Nguyen Van Dai. The first three were imprisoned with anti-state allegations while the latest has been jailed since late 2015 and face serious charges of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 and subversion under Article 79 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code.