Defend the Defenders | August 19, 2018
On August 16, the People’s Court of Nghe An province convicted pro-democracy campaigner and environmentalist Le Dinh Luong on subversion charges, giving him a record high sentence of 20 years in prison and five years under house arrest afterward.
During the first-instance trial against the human rights defender and anti-corruption campaigner, which lasted only a few hours, the defendant and hislawyers affirmed his innocence, saying his activities were in line with Vietnam’s laws and international human rights laws.
The conviction and the hard sentence of Mr. Luong aims to silence his peaceful activities and discourage other activists, and protect the communist regime amid increasing social dissatisfaction on systemic corruption, the weak government response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the South China Sea, and serious environmental pollution and other issues.
Meanwhile, the People’s Court of Quang Binh suddenly postponed the August 17 trial of Nguyen Trung Truc, spokesman of the banned group Brotherhood for Democracy, held on allegation of subversion. Truc was arrested in late July 2017, and has been inhumanely treated while being held in the province’s temporary detention facility. The court has not publicized the reasons for the delay but observers suggested that Truc is not fit for the trial because he has been tortured physically and mentally by police officers and criminal inmates with whom he shares a cell in the detention facility.
In the evening of August 15, around 100 activists and ordinary people were gathering in a local cafeteria in Ho Chi Minh City where dissident singer Nguyen Tin was holding a live show. One hour after the show began, police came and detained many activists, brutally beating many of them at the scene and later in custody. Among the victims of police torture were prominent dissident blogger Pham Doan Trang, activists Nguyen Dai, Ms. Diem Hang and Ms. Thuong Huyen, and singer Nguyen Tin. Ms. Doan Trang was later hospitalized with severe injuries to her head.
In response to the HCM City police’s assault, Amnesty International issued a statement on August 16 calling on Vietnam’s government to investigate the case and hold the responsible perpetrators accountable.
Earlier on the same day, the Higher People’s Court in Hanoi held the appeal hearing of Nguyen Viet Dung, who established the unsanctioned Vietnam Republican Party. He had been sentenced to seven years in prison on allegation of anti-state propaganda under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code at his first trial. Without his lawyer present, the court reduced his prison sentence to six years. Dung is among few activists receiving lighter sentences in their appeal hearings.
The People’s Court of Tu Son town will hold the trial against anti-corruption activist Do Cong Duong on allegation of “causing public disorders” on September 10. Mr. Duong was detained in early 2018 while filming a land grabbing case in Tu Son. He was also charged with “abusing democratic freedom” and will be tried by another trial. He is facing imprisonment of up to seven years if convicted.
In order to punish prisoner of conscience Tran Thi Nga for denying to confess wrongdoings, authorities in Dak Trung prison camp have placed her in the same cell with a female criminal who has continuously beaten her and threatened to kill her. Mrs. Nga, who has two kids, was sentenced to nine years in prison last year on charge of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code.
Prisoner of conscience Tran Huynh Duy Thuc is conducting a 10-day hunger strike starting from August 14 in a bid to counter the Vietnamese authorities’ pressure to force him to make confession in exchange for amnesty. According to the new 2015 Penal Code, which became effective from January 1 this year, he would be released after serving more than seven years in prison. His health is very bad now, said his family after conducting a visit to Prison camp No. 6 in Nghe An on August 18.
===== August 13 =====
Trial against Spokesman of Brotherhood for Democracy Postponed
Defend the Defenders: The People’s Court of Vietnam’s central province of Quang Binh has unexpectedly decided to postpone the trial against Nguyen Trung Truc, the spokesman of the unsanctioned group Brotherhood for Democracy, which was set on August 17, said his lawyer Nguyen Van Mieng.
The Ho Chi Minh City-based attorney said that Tran Huu Sy, the judge of the trial, informed him by telephone on August 12 without saying the reason for the delay.
The first-instance hearing of Mr. Truc is likely to be held in mid-September and the court will send written notice to his family and lawyer by post, the judge told the lawyer.
Mr. Truc, 44, was arrested on August 4, 2017 and charged with “carrying out activities to overthrow the people’s administration” under Article 79 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code.
He had been kept incommunicado since being detained until recently when he was permitted to meet with his lawyer to prepare for his defense.
During the past 12 months, his family has been permitted only to send him some additional food. Like in other political cases, his lawyer has not been allowed to attend interrogations.
Truc has been active in promoting human rights and multi-party democracy in Vietnam, as well as assisting fishermen who are affected by the environmental disaster in the central coastal region beginning in May 2016 as a result of the illegal discharge of toxic industrial waste by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant located in the central province of Ha Tinh.
He has been harassed by Vietnam’s security forces, including kidnapping in 2016, when plainclothes agents abducted him and seven others, bringing them to remote areas in Ha Tinh province where they robbed and tortured them before leaving them in a forest area. The assault was reported by Defend the Defenders and Human Rights Watch.
Truc has been the 8th member of the Brotherhood for Democracy being arrested and charged with serious allegation in the national security provisions in the Penal Code. Others included prominent human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, Protestant pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, engineer Pham Van Troi, veteran journalist and labor activist Truong Minh Duc, English teacher Le Thu Ha, anti-corruption campaigner Nguyen Van Tuc, humanitarian aid Tran Thi Xuan. All of them were convicted on allegation of subversion and sentenced to between seven and 15 years in prison in April-May.
The Brotherhood for Democracy is one of the main targets of the ongoing crackdown of the Vietnamese government on local dissent. In 2017, Vietnam arrested more than 40 activists in 2017 and has detained seven government critics so far this year.
Hanoi has also convicted 20 activists to date, with a total 158 years in prison and 45 years under house arrest, according to Defend the Defenders’ statistics.
===== August 14 =====
Appeal Hearing of President of Vietnam Republican Party Nguyen Viet Dung Suddenly held on Aug 15
Defend the Defenders: On August 15, the Higher People’s Court in Hanoi, without warning, held the appeal hearing of Nguyen Viet Dung, founder and president of the unsanctioned Vietnam Republican Party, in Nghe An province, his lawyer Nguyen Kha Thanh has announced.
Mr. Dung, who was arrested on September 27 last year, was sentenced to seven years in prison on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code by the People’s Court of Nghe An.
After being convicted by the provincial court, Dung had filled his appeal to the Supreme People’s Court and his family hired lawyer Thanh to provide legal assistance for him in his appeal hearing.
Lawyer Thanh said on his Facebook account that he had submitted his request to meet with his client to prepare for his defense. However, the lawyer has yet to be allowed to go to the Nghi Kim temporary detention facility under the authority of the Nghe An province’s Police Department.
On the afternoon of August 14, Mr. Thanh’s office received a call from the Higher People’s Court which said the appeal hearing of Dung will be carried out on following day.
At the time, Mr. Thanh was about 1,000 km away from Nghe An and able to attend the appeal hearing, he said.
On April 12, Dung’s trial lasted only a few hours. It was limited to local activists and a few relatives of the defendant were allowed to enter the courtroom.
Dung, 32, who served a 12-month imprisonment for his peaceful activities in 2015-2016, was kidnapped by plainclothes agents in his home province of Nghe An on September 27, 2017. Later, he was charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda.” Witnesses reported that he was brutally beaten by kidnappers during the abduction.
His arrest is linked to his assistance given to local fishermen whose lives are seriously affected after the massive death of fish in the central coastal region due to the illegal discharge of toxic industrial waste from the Formosa steel plant in the central province of Ha Tinh.
On March 26, Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling on Vietnam to drop all charges against Dung and release him immediately. The New York-based organization also condemned Vietnam’s use of controversial articles including Articles 79 and 88 in the national security provisions of the Penal Code to silence local political dissidents, human rights defenders and social activists.
On April 12, Amnesty International issued a press release regarding the separate trials of Dung and Vu Van Hung, a former prisoner of conscience and member of the unsanctioned Brotherhood for Democracy. James Gomez, Amnesty International’s former Regional Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said that “Nguyen Viet Dung is a brave young activist in a country where human rights are under attack. This man has already served time in prison for his peaceful activism once before. To ensure there is no repeat of this injustice, the authorities of Nghe An province must immediately drop all charges against Dung and release him immediately.”
===== August 15 =====
HCM City Police Stop Live Show of Dissident Singer, Detaining and Beating Many Activists
Defend the Defenders: In the evening of August 15, police in Ho Chi Minh City stopped a live show of dissident singer Nguyen Tin, detaining many activists and beating them brutally at the scene and in custody before releasing them.
Among the detained and beaten activists were prominent dissident blogger Pham Doan Trang, activist Dinh Nhat Uy, blogger Tran Phuong and Tran Dai, Ms. Diem Hang and Ms. Thuong Huyen and the singer. Police confiscated the IDs of many detainees before releasing them.
Nguyen Tin, who is famous among Vietnamese dissidents for his patriotic songs and charity activities, held his first-ever live show in a music bar namely Cafe Casanova in 61 C Tu Xuong, Ward 7, District 3 with participation of many local activists and ordinary clients. The live show was publicized on social networks.
The the show started at 8.30 PM on Wednesday. Local authorities deployed large numbers of police, militia, and thugs to block the area near the cafeteria.
According to female activist Vo Hong Ly, police stumped in the cafeteria at 9 PM to film the event. Their behavior was very aggressive, she said.
Feeling the police intervention may not be good for the audience, which included many children and elderly, the MC of the show asked the police to act peacefully.
After requesting the cafeteria owner to show his license and stop the show, police requested the participants to show their IDs. Well-known activists were ordered not to leave the cafeteria, Ms. Hong Ly said.
At 9.45, police started their brutality. Firstly, they approached Doan Trang to ask her not to film their aggressive acts. They knocked her down and detained her. Tran Phuong was also beaten and detained after recording police’s attacks against Doan Trang with his cell phone.
Many activists were beaten while trying to protect Doan Trang and others, Ly said, adding Diem Hang were beaten on her head while Ms. Thuong Huyen was assaulted on her left eye.
Police requested most of the audience leave the cafeteria but kept singer Nguyen Tin, blogger Nguyen Dai and many others police think they are organizers of the live show.
Plainclothes agents and militia were very aggressive and ready to beat anyone, including female, Ly said.
Police took Doan Trang to the police station in Ward 7 for interrogation. During questioning, she was beaten by police officers. At the end of the interrogation, police brought a man in medical clothes to examine her health. Doan Trang suspected that he is not a medical worker since he failed to prove his medical capacity. The man concluded that she suffered light injuries.
Police confiscated her ID, laptop, ATM card, and wallet with several hundreds of thousands of dong. Police took her in a taxi. Later, they asked her to get out of the car, and continued to beat her, using a motorbike helmet to attack her on her head before leaving. Trang suffered severe injuries from the second assault.
Before leaving the scene, police requested her to come to the police station on Thursday to get back her items.
On August 16, Doan Trang was hospitalized after continuously vomiting. The medical check-up showed that she suffered from brain injuries.
Police also detained singer Nguyen Tin at the police station in Ward 7 where they confiscated his ID and dragged him into a car to drive to the areas in Tan An Hoi commune in Cu Chi district. After taking him out of the car by force, they called separate police from the local commune to come to check his ID, which they had already confiscated. At this point, Tin was detained by the local commune police because he did not have ID. They brutally beat him before they released him.
Activists said they couldn’t contact activist Nguyen Dai, who was also detained by police.
This is the second police assault against singer Nguyen Tin within two months. In mid-June, he was detained at his house and held in a police station for several days due to his participation in the mass demonstration against the Special Economic Zones and Cyber Security bills, in which hundreds of peaceful demonstrators were detained and tortured.During interrogation, Nguyen Tin was beaten and mistreated by police officers.
In order to prevent the formation of opposition parties, Vietnam’s security forces are willing to use forces to intervene in meetings of activists, including gatherings for cultural purposes. Dissident singer Do Nguyen Mai Khoi’s shows have been closely monitored and stopped on several occasions.
——————–
Prison Sentence of President of Vietnam Republican Party Nguyen Viet Dung Reduced in Short Appeal Hearing
Defend the Defenders: On August 15, the Higher People’s Court in Hanoi, without warning, held the appeal hearing of Nguyen Viet Dung, founder and president of the unsanctioned Vietnam Republican Party, in Nghe An province, his lawyer Nguyen Kha Thanh has announced.
Mr. Dung, who was arrested on September 27 last year, was sentenced to seven years in prison on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code by the People’s Court of Nghe An.
After being convicted by the provincial court, Dung had filled his appeal to the Supreme People’s Court and his family hired lawyer Thanh to provide legal assistance for him in his appeal hearing.
Lawyer Thanh said on his Facebook account that he had submitted his request to meet with his client to prepare for his defense. However, the lawyer has yet to be allowed to go to the Nghi Kim temporary detention facility under the authority of the Nghe An province’s Police Department.
On the afternoon of August 14, Mr. Thanh’s office received a call from the Higher People’s Court which said the appeal hearing of Dung will be carried out on following day.
At the time, Mr. Thanh was about 1,000 km away from Nghe An and able to attend the appeal hearing, he said.
On April 12, Dung’s trial lasted only a few hours. It was limited to local activists and a few relatives of the defendant were allowed to enter the courtroom.
Dung, 32, who served a 12-month imprisonment for his peaceful activities in 2015-2016, was kidnapped by plainclothes agents in his home province of Nghe An on September 27, 2017. Later, he was charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda.” Witnesses reported that he was brutally beaten by kidnappers during the abduction.
His arrest is linked to his assistance given to local fishermen whose lives are seriously affected after the massive death of fish in the central coastal region due to the illegal discharge of toxic industrial waste from the Formosa steel plant in the central province of Ha Tinh.
On March 26, Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling on Vietnam to drop all charges against Dung and release him immediately. The New York-based organization also condemned Vietnam’s use of controversial articles including Articles 79 and 88 in the national security provisions of the Penal Code to silence local political dissidents, human rights defenders and social activists.
On April 12, Amnesty International issued a press release regarding the separate trials of Dung and Vu Van Hung, a former prisoner of conscience and member of the unsanctioned Brotherhood for Democracy. James Gomez, Amnesty International’s former Regional Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said that “Nguyen Viet Dung is a brave young activist in a country where human rights are under attack. This man has already served time in prison for his peaceful activism once before. To ensure there is no repeat of this injustice, the authorities of Nghe An province must immediately drop all charges against Dung and release him immediately.”
===== August 16 =====
Pro-democracy Campaigner, Environmentalist Le Dinh Luong Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison
Defend the Defenders: On August 16, the Higher People’s Court in Hanoi shocked everyone by imposing 20 years of imprisonment for pro-democracy campaigner and environmentalist Le Dinh Luong in the short trial against him on allegation of subversion.
In the first-instance hearing which lasted only several hours in Thursday’s morning, the court found the 53-year-old activist guilty of “carrying out activities aiming to overthrow the government” under Article 79 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code. The People’s Procuracy proposed a punishment of 17 years of jail, however, after a long dispute with the defendants’ lawyers, judge Tran Ngoc Son decided to give him 20 years in prison and five years under house arrest, the most severe imprisonment given to a political prisoner in the past several years.
Lawyers Ha Huy Son and Dang Dinh Manh provied that their client is innocent as his activities are in line with the Vietnamese law and international human rights law while the defendant affirmed that he acted to protest China’s violations of the country’s sovereingty, protect the environment against Formosa, and object wrongdoings of local corrupted officials and he is proud of them.
Only Mr. Luong’s wife and younger brother were permitted to enter the courtroom while others were forced to stay away from the court’s areas, his daughter-in-law Nguyen Xoan told Defend the Defenders. No foreign diplomats were allowed to attend the trial open for public, she added.
Mr. Luong, who was arrested in late July last year, has been the 14th activists convicted on subversion since 2017. He was given the most severe jail term while others were sentenced to between seven and 16 years in prison and up to five years of house arrest.
He has been held incommunicado since being arrested until late July when his lawyers got approval from the People’s Procuracy to meet with him to prepare for his defense.
Mr. Luong, a veteran in the war against China’s invasion of Vietnam’s northern region in 1980s, was arrested on July 24, 2017. State media reported that Mr. Luong is an extremely dangerous element belonging to the U.S.-based Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform Party) which is labeled by Vietnamese authorities as a terrorist organization.
According to the Nghe An police, Mr. Luong once called for boycotting the elections of the parliament and local People’s Councils while capitalizing on the environmental disasters caused by Formosa to cause social disorders and instigate demonstrations.
Mr. Luong himself was attacked by under-covered policemen in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong in August 2015 when he visited Tran Minh Nhat, who then completed his sentence on alleged subversion. Many other activists were also beaten in that incident.After his detention, his relatives were also brutally beaten by police forces twice.
In late July, Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling on Vietnam’s communist regime to drop all politically-motivated charges against Mr. Luong and release him immediately and unconditionally.
“Vietnamese authorities frequently employ fabricated political charges to punish activists for being affiliated with non-communist groups or parties critical of the government,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“Le Dinh Luong is facing prison for protesting the dumping of toxic waste and other environmental disasters that the government should be doing something about,” he noted.
“Vietnamese police routinely deprive detained rights activists and bloggers of access to lawyers and family members for months, and then only give their lawyers a very short time to prepare the case before trial,” Robertson said, adding “Fundamental change is needed in Vietnam’s justice system, but for the needed reform there is no light at the end of the tunnel.”
On August 15, one day ahead of his trial, Amnesty International’s Director of Global Operations Clare Algar said in the organization’ statment that “For peacefully campaigning on behalf of fishermen affected by an environmental disaster, Le Dinh Luong could face a life sentence or even the death penalty. This is a patently unjust and politically-motivated case that should be dropped and Le Dinh Luong must be released immediately and unconditionally.”
===== August 17 =====
Trial against Anti-corruption Activist Do Cong Duong on Allegation of Causing Public Disorders Set on Sept 10
Defend the Defenders: The People’s Court of Tu Son town in Bac Ninh province will hold the first-instance trial against local anti-corruption activist Do Cong Duong on September 10, his daughter Do Lan Anh told Defend the Defenders.
Mr. Duong, 54, will be tried on allegation of “Disturbance of public order” under Article 318 of the country’s 2015 Penal Code. He is facing imprisonment of between two and seven years in prison if convicted, according to current Vietnamese law.
The trial is open to the public, however it is unclear whether his relatives will be permitted to enter the courtroom. In other politically-motivated cases, few relatives of defendants are allowed to attend the hearings.
Hanoi-based lawyer Ha Huy Son is permitted to defend Mr. Duong in the upcoming trial.
Mr. Duong was arrested by the police of Tu Son commune on January 24 this year when he was filming a forced eviction in the commune.
Mr. Duong, who is a land petitioner, is also charged with “Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state, lawful rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens” under Article 331 of the Penal Code for his denunciations against corrupt state officials from Bac Ninh province. However, he will be tried on this allegation by the People’s Court of Bac Ninh province later this year.
Regarding the coming trial, lawyer Son has called on witnesses of the detention of Mr. Duong to submit requests to the People’s Court of Tu Son town to get permission to be at the trial so they can provide evidence in favor of the anti-corruption activist.
For more information about Mr. Duong, go to our archive.
===== August 18 =====
Prisoner of Conscience Tran Thi Nga Beaten, Receives Death Threats While Serving 9-Year Imprisonment
Defend the Defenders: Prisoner of conscience Tran Thi Nga has been beaten and received death threat by a fellow inmate while serving her nine-year imprisonment in Gia Trung prison camp in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, her husband Phan Van Phong has informed Defend the Defenders.
Mr. Phong, who is a Hanoi-based activist taking care for their two kids, six and eight years of age, said Mrs. Nga telephoned him to report the assault against her carried out by a female inmate who was placed in the same cell with her.
The female inmate, considered the most aggressive woman in the prison, is continuously beating Nga and threatening to kill her.
Nga has complained of her situation to the prison’s authorities who remain silent, she told her husband.
Nga said the harassment against her is part of the acts of prison authorities aiming to force her to confess her wrongdoings. Since being arrested in January 2017 and convicted in mid-2017, she has refused to deliver a false confession, saying she has done nothing wrong according to Vietnam’s law and international human rights laws.
After being convicted in trails which fail to meet international standards for fair trials, prisoners of conscience have been transferred to prisons far from their houses.
In prisons, they have been treated inhumanely as prison authorities under the authorities of the Ministry of Public Security impose different methods to break their mental strength and make their lives more difficult, former prisoners of conscience and prisoners of conscience have said.
The methods include cell confinement, threats and torture by other inmates, forced labor, and poor-quality food as well as the denial of proper medical treatment. In 2016, the London-based NGO Amnesty International released its report titled “Prisons within Prisons: Torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of conscience in Viet Nam” described clearly how prisoners have been treated in prisons under the authority of the Ministry of Public Security.
Last month, prominent human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a well-known blogger under the penname of Mother Mushroom, conducted a long-lasting hunger strike to protest inhumane treatment while serving her ten-year imprisonment in Prison No. 5 in Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province. She was also threatened by an inmate and provided with poor-quality food. She agreed to end the hunger strike after a representative of the US Embassy in Vietnam visited her and the prison authorities agreed to move her to an another cell.
Nga, who was arrested in late February 2017 and charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code, was sentenced to nine years in prison. She is among more than 100 prisoners of conscience in Vietnam.
===== August 19 =====
Prisoner of Conscience Tran Huynh Duy Thuc Conducts Hunger Strike
Defend the Defenders: EntrepreneurTran Huynh Duy Thuc, who is serving his 16-year imprisonment on allegation of subversion in Prison camp No. 6 located in the central province of Nghe An, has carried out a hunger strike since August 14.
The hunger strike aims to protest the pressure of the prison’s authorities who want the activist to confess wrongdoing in exchange for amnesty.
Mr. Thuc, 52, was arrested in January 2010 on charge of “carrying out activities aiming to overthrow the government” under Article 79 of the 1999 Penal Code.
According to the 2015 Penal Code, he would be charged with “attempts to overthrow the government” with a prison sentence of between one and five years. If the new law is applied to his case, he should be released right now since he has been imprisoned more than seven years.
However, Vietnam’s regime wants him to admit wrongdoings so they can release him.
Lawyer Ngo Ngoc Trai, one of his attorneys, has submitted a number of requests asking Vietnam’s authorities to apply new articles, particularly Article 15 and 109 of the 2015 Penal Code in Thuc’s case, however, they have ignored his requests.
Mr. Thuc told his family that he will never make a false confession nor accept pardon but to be released unconditionally.
He has reportedly refused being released in exchange for exile in a foreign country.
His family said he has stopped eating since mid-August. Before that, he refused the prison’s food and took only the food supplied by his family.
His health is poor now, the family said after visiting him in prison on August 18.
Thuc reportedly said he will stop eating for ten days in a bid to request Vietnam’s authorities to respect the country’s law and release all prisoners of conscience who were convicted on “attempting to overthrow the government” under Article 79 of the 1999 Penal Code and Article 109 of the 2015 Penal Code. However, he would extend his hunger strike if his requests are not met on August 23.
In order to force him to confess, the authorities in the prison limit his right to write letters to his family and send petitions to state agencies, particularly only one person from his family can receive his letters and he can only send his petitions to one state agency and two petitions a month. The prison authorities have kept his petitions to the state president and four petitions to the Supreme People’s Court and the People’s Court of Nghe An.
This is one of a number of hunger strikes Mr. Thuc has been made in the last few years to protest inhumane treatments of the prison’s authorities.
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August 19, 2018
Vietnam Human Rights Defenders’ Weekly Report for August 13-19, 2018: Environmentalist Le Dinh Luong Convicted with Shocked Lengthy Sentence
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights], DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defend the Defenders | August 19, 2018
On August 16, the People’s Court of Nghe An province convicted pro-democracy campaigner and environmentalist Le Dinh Luong on subversion charges, giving him a record high sentence of 20 years in prison and five years under house arrest afterward.
During the first-instance trial against the human rights defender and anti-corruption campaigner, which lasted only a few hours, the defendant and hislawyers affirmed his innocence, saying his activities were in line with Vietnam’s laws and international human rights laws.
The conviction and the hard sentence of Mr. Luong aims to silence his peaceful activities and discourage other activists, and protect the communist regime amid increasing social dissatisfaction on systemic corruption, the weak government response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the South China Sea, and serious environmental pollution and other issues.
Meanwhile, the People’s Court of Quang Binh suddenly postponed the August 17 trial of Nguyen Trung Truc, spokesman of the banned group Brotherhood for Democracy, held on allegation of subversion. Truc was arrested in late July 2017, and has been inhumanely treated while being held in the province’s temporary detention facility. The court has not publicized the reasons for the delay but observers suggested that Truc is not fit for the trial because he has been tortured physically and mentally by police officers and criminal inmates with whom he shares a cell in the detention facility.
In the evening of August 15, around 100 activists and ordinary people were gathering in a local cafeteria in Ho Chi Minh City where dissident singer Nguyen Tin was holding a live show. One hour after the show began, police came and detained many activists, brutally beating many of them at the scene and later in custody. Among the victims of police torture were prominent dissident blogger Pham Doan Trang, activists Nguyen Dai, Ms. Diem Hang and Ms. Thuong Huyen, and singer Nguyen Tin. Ms. Doan Trang was later hospitalized with severe injuries to her head.
In response to the HCM City police’s assault, Amnesty International issued a statement on August 16 calling on Vietnam’s government to investigate the case and hold the responsible perpetrators accountable.
Earlier on the same day, the Higher People’s Court in Hanoi held the appeal hearing of Nguyen Viet Dung, who established the unsanctioned Vietnam Republican Party. He had been sentenced to seven years in prison on allegation of anti-state propaganda under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code at his first trial. Without his lawyer present, the court reduced his prison sentence to six years. Dung is among few activists receiving lighter sentences in their appeal hearings.
The People’s Court of Tu Son town will hold the trial against anti-corruption activist Do Cong Duong on allegation of “causing public disorders” on September 10. Mr. Duong was detained in early 2018 while filming a land grabbing case in Tu Son. He was also charged with “abusing democratic freedom” and will be tried by another trial. He is facing imprisonment of up to seven years if convicted.
In order to punish prisoner of conscience Tran Thi Nga for denying to confess wrongdoings, authorities in Dak Trung prison camp have placed her in the same cell with a female criminal who has continuously beaten her and threatened to kill her. Mrs. Nga, who has two kids, was sentenced to nine years in prison last year on charge of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code.
Prisoner of conscience Tran Huynh Duy Thuc is conducting a 10-day hunger strike starting from August 14 in a bid to counter the Vietnamese authorities’ pressure to force him to make confession in exchange for amnesty. According to the new 2015 Penal Code, which became effective from January 1 this year, he would be released after serving more than seven years in prison. His health is very bad now, said his family after conducting a visit to Prison camp No. 6 in Nghe An on August 18.
===== August 13 =====
Trial against Spokesman of Brotherhood for Democracy Postponed
Defend the Defenders: The People’s Court of Vietnam’s central province of Quang Binh has unexpectedly decided to postpone the trial against Nguyen Trung Truc, the spokesman of the unsanctioned group Brotherhood for Democracy, which was set on August 17, said his lawyer Nguyen Van Mieng.
The Ho Chi Minh City-based attorney said that Tran Huu Sy, the judge of the trial, informed him by telephone on August 12 without saying the reason for the delay.
The first-instance hearing of Mr. Truc is likely to be held in mid-September and the court will send written notice to his family and lawyer by post, the judge told the lawyer.
Mr. Truc, 44, was arrested on August 4, 2017 and charged with “carrying out activities to overthrow the people’s administration” under Article 79 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code.
He had been kept incommunicado since being detained until recently when he was permitted to meet with his lawyer to prepare for his defense.
During the past 12 months, his family has been permitted only to send him some additional food. Like in other political cases, his lawyer has not been allowed to attend interrogations.
Truc has been active in promoting human rights and multi-party democracy in Vietnam, as well as assisting fishermen who are affected by the environmental disaster in the central coastal region beginning in May 2016 as a result of the illegal discharge of toxic industrial waste by the Taiwanese Formosa steel plant located in the central province of Ha Tinh.
He has been harassed by Vietnam’s security forces, including kidnapping in 2016, when plainclothes agents abducted him and seven others, bringing them to remote areas in Ha Tinh province where they robbed and tortured them before leaving them in a forest area. The assault was reported by Defend the Defenders and Human Rights Watch.
Truc has been the 8th member of the Brotherhood for Democracy being arrested and charged with serious allegation in the national security provisions in the Penal Code. Others included prominent human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, Protestant pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, engineer Pham Van Troi, veteran journalist and labor activist Truong Minh Duc, English teacher Le Thu Ha, anti-corruption campaigner Nguyen Van Tuc, humanitarian aid Tran Thi Xuan. All of them were convicted on allegation of subversion and sentenced to between seven and 15 years in prison in April-May.
The Brotherhood for Democracy is one of the main targets of the ongoing crackdown of the Vietnamese government on local dissent. In 2017, Vietnam arrested more than 40 activists in 2017 and has detained seven government critics so far this year.
Hanoi has also convicted 20 activists to date, with a total 158 years in prison and 45 years under house arrest, according to Defend the Defenders’ statistics.
===== August 14 =====
Appeal Hearing of President of Vietnam Republican Party Nguyen Viet Dung Suddenly held on Aug 15
Defend the Defenders: On August 15, the Higher People’s Court in Hanoi, without warning, held the appeal hearing of Nguyen Viet Dung, founder and president of the unsanctioned Vietnam Republican Party, in Nghe An province, his lawyer Nguyen Kha Thanh has announced.
Mr. Dung, who was arrested on September 27 last year, was sentenced to seven years in prison on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code by the People’s Court of Nghe An.
After being convicted by the provincial court, Dung had filled his appeal to the Supreme People’s Court and his family hired lawyer Thanh to provide legal assistance for him in his appeal hearing.
Lawyer Thanh said on his Facebook account that he had submitted his request to meet with his client to prepare for his defense. However, the lawyer has yet to be allowed to go to the Nghi Kim temporary detention facility under the authority of the Nghe An province’s Police Department.
On the afternoon of August 14, Mr. Thanh’s office received a call from the Higher People’s Court which said the appeal hearing of Dung will be carried out on following day.
At the time, Mr. Thanh was about 1,000 km away from Nghe An and able to attend the appeal hearing, he said.
On April 12, Dung’s trial lasted only a few hours. It was limited to local activists and a few relatives of the defendant were allowed to enter the courtroom.
Dung, 32, who served a 12-month imprisonment for his peaceful activities in 2015-2016, was kidnapped by plainclothes agents in his home province of Nghe An on September 27, 2017. Later, he was charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda.” Witnesses reported that he was brutally beaten by kidnappers during the abduction.
His arrest is linked to his assistance given to local fishermen whose lives are seriously affected after the massive death of fish in the central coastal region due to the illegal discharge of toxic industrial waste from the Formosa steel plant in the central province of Ha Tinh.
On March 26, Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling on Vietnam to drop all charges against Dung and release him immediately. The New York-based organization also condemned Vietnam’s use of controversial articles including Articles 79 and 88 in the national security provisions of the Penal Code to silence local political dissidents, human rights defenders and social activists.
On April 12, Amnesty International issued a press release regarding the separate trials of Dung and Vu Van Hung, a former prisoner of conscience and member of the unsanctioned Brotherhood for Democracy. James Gomez, Amnesty International’s former Regional Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said that “Nguyen Viet Dung is a brave young activist in a country where human rights are under attack. This man has already served time in prison for his peaceful activism once before. To ensure there is no repeat of this injustice, the authorities of Nghe An province must immediately drop all charges against Dung and release him immediately.”
===== August 15 =====
HCM City Police Stop Live Show of Dissident Singer, Detaining and Beating Many Activists
Defend the Defenders: In the evening of August 15, police in Ho Chi Minh City stopped a live show of dissident singer Nguyen Tin, detaining many activists and beating them brutally at the scene and in custody before releasing them.
Among the detained and beaten activists were prominent dissident blogger Pham Doan Trang, activist Dinh Nhat Uy, blogger Tran Phuong and Tran Dai, Ms. Diem Hang and Ms. Thuong Huyen and the singer. Police confiscated the IDs of many detainees before releasing them.
Nguyen Tin, who is famous among Vietnamese dissidents for his patriotic songs and charity activities, held his first-ever live show in a music bar namely Cafe Casanova in 61 C Tu Xuong, Ward 7, District 3 with participation of many local activists and ordinary clients. The live show was publicized on social networks.
The the show started at 8.30 PM on Wednesday. Local authorities deployed large numbers of police, militia, and thugs to block the area near the cafeteria.
According to female activist Vo Hong Ly, police stumped in the cafeteria at 9 PM to film the event. Their behavior was very aggressive, she said.
Feeling the police intervention may not be good for the audience, which included many children and elderly, the MC of the show asked the police to act peacefully.
After requesting the cafeteria owner to show his license and stop the show, police requested the participants to show their IDs. Well-known activists were ordered not to leave the cafeteria, Ms. Hong Ly said.
At 9.45, police started their brutality. Firstly, they approached Doan Trang to ask her not to film their aggressive acts. They knocked her down and detained her. Tran Phuong was also beaten and detained after recording police’s attacks against Doan Trang with his cell phone.
Many activists were beaten while trying to protect Doan Trang and others, Ly said, adding Diem Hang were beaten on her head while Ms. Thuong Huyen was assaulted on her left eye.
Police requested most of the audience leave the cafeteria but kept singer Nguyen Tin, blogger Nguyen Dai and many others police think they are organizers of the live show.
Plainclothes agents and militia were very aggressive and ready to beat anyone, including female, Ly said.
Police took Doan Trang to the police station in Ward 7 for interrogation. During questioning, she was beaten by police officers. At the end of the interrogation, police brought a man in medical clothes to examine her health. Doan Trang suspected that he is not a medical worker since he failed to prove his medical capacity. The man concluded that she suffered light injuries.
Police confiscated her ID, laptop, ATM card, and wallet with several hundreds of thousands of dong. Police took her in a taxi. Later, they asked her to get out of the car, and continued to beat her, using a motorbike helmet to attack her on her head before leaving. Trang suffered severe injuries from the second assault.
Before leaving the scene, police requested her to come to the police station on Thursday to get back her items.
On August 16, Doan Trang was hospitalized after continuously vomiting. The medical check-up showed that she suffered from brain injuries.
Police also detained singer Nguyen Tin at the police station in Ward 7 where they confiscated his ID and dragged him into a car to drive to the areas in Tan An Hoi commune in Cu Chi district. After taking him out of the car by force, they called separate police from the local commune to come to check his ID, which they had already confiscated. At this point, Tin was detained by the local commune police because he did not have ID. They brutally beat him before they released him.
Activists said they couldn’t contact activist Nguyen Dai, who was also detained by police.
This is the second police assault against singer Nguyen Tin within two months. In mid-June, he was detained at his house and held in a police station for several days due to his participation in the mass demonstration against the Special Economic Zones and Cyber Security bills, in which hundreds of peaceful demonstrators were detained and tortured.During interrogation, Nguyen Tin was beaten and mistreated by police officers.
In order to prevent the formation of opposition parties, Vietnam’s security forces are willing to use forces to intervene in meetings of activists, including gatherings for cultural purposes. Dissident singer Do Nguyen Mai Khoi’s shows have been closely monitored and stopped on several occasions.
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Prison Sentence of President of Vietnam Republican Party Nguyen Viet Dung Reduced in Short Appeal Hearing
Defend the Defenders: On August 15, the Higher People’s Court in Hanoi, without warning, held the appeal hearing of Nguyen Viet Dung, founder and president of the unsanctioned Vietnam Republican Party, in Nghe An province, his lawyer Nguyen Kha Thanh has announced.
Mr. Dung, who was arrested on September 27 last year, was sentenced to seven years in prison on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code by the People’s Court of Nghe An.
After being convicted by the provincial court, Dung had filled his appeal to the Supreme People’s Court and his family hired lawyer Thanh to provide legal assistance for him in his appeal hearing.
Lawyer Thanh said on his Facebook account that he had submitted his request to meet with his client to prepare for his defense. However, the lawyer has yet to be allowed to go to the Nghi Kim temporary detention facility under the authority of the Nghe An province’s Police Department.
On the afternoon of August 14, Mr. Thanh’s office received a call from the Higher People’s Court which said the appeal hearing of Dung will be carried out on following day.
At the time, Mr. Thanh was about 1,000 km away from Nghe An and able to attend the appeal hearing, he said.
On April 12, Dung’s trial lasted only a few hours. It was limited to local activists and a few relatives of the defendant were allowed to enter the courtroom.
Dung, 32, who served a 12-month imprisonment for his peaceful activities in 2015-2016, was kidnapped by plainclothes agents in his home province of Nghe An on September 27, 2017. Later, he was charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda.” Witnesses reported that he was brutally beaten by kidnappers during the abduction.
His arrest is linked to his assistance given to local fishermen whose lives are seriously affected after the massive death of fish in the central coastal region due to the illegal discharge of toxic industrial waste from the Formosa steel plant in the central province of Ha Tinh.
On March 26, Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling on Vietnam to drop all charges against Dung and release him immediately. The New York-based organization also condemned Vietnam’s use of controversial articles including Articles 79 and 88 in the national security provisions of the Penal Code to silence local political dissidents, human rights defenders and social activists.
On April 12, Amnesty International issued a press release regarding the separate trials of Dung and Vu Van Hung, a former prisoner of conscience and member of the unsanctioned Brotherhood for Democracy. James Gomez, Amnesty International’s former Regional Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said that “Nguyen Viet Dung is a brave young activist in a country where human rights are under attack. This man has already served time in prison for his peaceful activism once before. To ensure there is no repeat of this injustice, the authorities of Nghe An province must immediately drop all charges against Dung and release him immediately.”
===== August 16 =====
Pro-democracy Campaigner, Environmentalist Le Dinh Luong Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison
Defend the Defenders: On August 16, the Higher People’s Court in Hanoi shocked everyone by imposing 20 years of imprisonment for pro-democracy campaigner and environmentalist Le Dinh Luong in the short trial against him on allegation of subversion.
In the first-instance hearing which lasted only several hours in Thursday’s morning, the court found the 53-year-old activist guilty of “carrying out activities aiming to overthrow the government” under Article 79 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code. The People’s Procuracy proposed a punishment of 17 years of jail, however, after a long dispute with the defendants’ lawyers, judge Tran Ngoc Son decided to give him 20 years in prison and five years under house arrest, the most severe imprisonment given to a political prisoner in the past several years.
Lawyers Ha Huy Son and Dang Dinh Manh provied that their client is innocent as his activities are in line with the Vietnamese law and international human rights law while the defendant affirmed that he acted to protest China’s violations of the country’s sovereingty, protect the environment against Formosa, and object wrongdoings of local corrupted officials and he is proud of them.
Only Mr. Luong’s wife and younger brother were permitted to enter the courtroom while others were forced to stay away from the court’s areas, his daughter-in-law Nguyen Xoan told Defend the Defenders. No foreign diplomats were allowed to attend the trial open for public, she added.
Mr. Luong, who was arrested in late July last year, has been the 14th activists convicted on subversion since 2017. He was given the most severe jail term while others were sentenced to between seven and 16 years in prison and up to five years of house arrest.
He has been held incommunicado since being arrested until late July when his lawyers got approval from the People’s Procuracy to meet with him to prepare for his defense.
Mr. Luong, a veteran in the war against China’s invasion of Vietnam’s northern region in 1980s, was arrested on July 24, 2017. State media reported that Mr. Luong is an extremely dangerous element belonging to the U.S.-based Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform Party) which is labeled by Vietnamese authorities as a terrorist organization.
According to the Nghe An police, Mr. Luong once called for boycotting the elections of the parliament and local People’s Councils while capitalizing on the environmental disasters caused by Formosa to cause social disorders and instigate demonstrations.
Mr. Luong himself was attacked by under-covered policemen in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong in August 2015 when he visited Tran Minh Nhat, who then completed his sentence on alleged subversion. Many other activists were also beaten in that incident.After his detention, his relatives were also brutally beaten by police forces twice.
In late July, Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling on Vietnam’s communist regime to drop all politically-motivated charges against Mr. Luong and release him immediately and unconditionally.
“Vietnamese authorities frequently employ fabricated political charges to punish activists for being affiliated with non-communist groups or parties critical of the government,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“Le Dinh Luong is facing prison for protesting the dumping of toxic waste and other environmental disasters that the government should be doing something about,” he noted.
“Vietnamese police routinely deprive detained rights activists and bloggers of access to lawyers and family members for months, and then only give their lawyers a very short time to prepare the case before trial,” Robertson said, adding “Fundamental change is needed in Vietnam’s justice system, but for the needed reform there is no light at the end of the tunnel.”
On August 15, one day ahead of his trial, Amnesty International’s Director of Global Operations Clare Algar said in the organization’ statment that “For peacefully campaigning on behalf of fishermen affected by an environmental disaster, Le Dinh Luong could face a life sentence or even the death penalty. This is a patently unjust and politically-motivated case that should be dropped and Le Dinh Luong must be released immediately and unconditionally.”
===== August 17 =====
Trial against Anti-corruption Activist Do Cong Duong on Allegation of Causing Public Disorders Set on Sept 10
Defend the Defenders: The People’s Court of Tu Son town in Bac Ninh province will hold the first-instance trial against local anti-corruption activist Do Cong Duong on September 10, his daughter Do Lan Anh told Defend the Defenders.
Mr. Duong, 54, will be tried on allegation of “Disturbance of public order” under Article 318 of the country’s 2015 Penal Code. He is facing imprisonment of between two and seven years in prison if convicted, according to current Vietnamese law.
The trial is open to the public, however it is unclear whether his relatives will be permitted to enter the courtroom. In other politically-motivated cases, few relatives of defendants are allowed to attend the hearings.
Hanoi-based lawyer Ha Huy Son is permitted to defend Mr. Duong in the upcoming trial.
Mr. Duong was arrested by the police of Tu Son commune on January 24 this year when he was filming a forced eviction in the commune.
Mr. Duong, who is a land petitioner, is also charged with “Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state, lawful rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens” under Article 331 of the Penal Code for his denunciations against corrupt state officials from Bac Ninh province. However, he will be tried on this allegation by the People’s Court of Bac Ninh province later this year.
Regarding the coming trial, lawyer Son has called on witnesses of the detention of Mr. Duong to submit requests to the People’s Court of Tu Son town to get permission to be at the trial so they can provide evidence in favor of the anti-corruption activist.
For more information about Mr. Duong, go to our archive.
===== August 18 =====
Prisoner of Conscience Tran Thi Nga Beaten, Receives Death Threats While Serving 9-Year Imprisonment
Defend the Defenders: Prisoner of conscience Tran Thi Nga has been beaten and received death threat by a fellow inmate while serving her nine-year imprisonment in Gia Trung prison camp in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, her husband Phan Van Phong has informed Defend the Defenders.
Mr. Phong, who is a Hanoi-based activist taking care for their two kids, six and eight years of age, said Mrs. Nga telephoned him to report the assault against her carried out by a female inmate who was placed in the same cell with her.
The female inmate, considered the most aggressive woman in the prison, is continuously beating Nga and threatening to kill her.
Nga has complained of her situation to the prison’s authorities who remain silent, she told her husband.
Nga said the harassment against her is part of the acts of prison authorities aiming to force her to confess her wrongdoings. Since being arrested in January 2017 and convicted in mid-2017, she has refused to deliver a false confession, saying she has done nothing wrong according to Vietnam’s law and international human rights laws.
After being convicted in trails which fail to meet international standards for fair trials, prisoners of conscience have been transferred to prisons far from their houses.
In prisons, they have been treated inhumanely as prison authorities under the authorities of the Ministry of Public Security impose different methods to break their mental strength and make their lives more difficult, former prisoners of conscience and prisoners of conscience have said.
The methods include cell confinement, threats and torture by other inmates, forced labor, and poor-quality food as well as the denial of proper medical treatment. In 2016, the London-based NGO Amnesty International released its report titled “Prisons within Prisons: Torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of conscience in Viet Nam” described clearly how prisoners have been treated in prisons under the authority of the Ministry of Public Security.
Last month, prominent human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a well-known blogger under the penname of Mother Mushroom, conducted a long-lasting hunger strike to protest inhumane treatment while serving her ten-year imprisonment in Prison No. 5 in Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province. She was also threatened by an inmate and provided with poor-quality food. She agreed to end the hunger strike after a representative of the US Embassy in Vietnam visited her and the prison authorities agreed to move her to an another cell.
Nga, who was arrested in late February 2017 and charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code, was sentenced to nine years in prison. She is among more than 100 prisoners of conscience in Vietnam.
===== August 19 =====
Prisoner of Conscience Tran Huynh Duy Thuc Conducts Hunger Strike
Defend the Defenders: EntrepreneurTran Huynh Duy Thuc, who is serving his 16-year imprisonment on allegation of subversion in Prison camp No. 6 located in the central province of Nghe An, has carried out a hunger strike since August 14.
The hunger strike aims to protest the pressure of the prison’s authorities who want the activist to confess wrongdoing in exchange for amnesty.
Mr. Thuc, 52, was arrested in January 2010 on charge of “carrying out activities aiming to overthrow the government” under Article 79 of the 1999 Penal Code.
According to the 2015 Penal Code, he would be charged with “attempts to overthrow the government” with a prison sentence of between one and five years. If the new law is applied to his case, he should be released right now since he has been imprisoned more than seven years.
However, Vietnam’s regime wants him to admit wrongdoings so they can release him.
Lawyer Ngo Ngoc Trai, one of his attorneys, has submitted a number of requests asking Vietnam’s authorities to apply new articles, particularly Article 15 and 109 of the 2015 Penal Code in Thuc’s case, however, they have ignored his requests.
Mr. Thuc told his family that he will never make a false confession nor accept pardon but to be released unconditionally.
He has reportedly refused being released in exchange for exile in a foreign country.
His family said he has stopped eating since mid-August. Before that, he refused the prison’s food and took only the food supplied by his family.
His health is poor now, the family said after visiting him in prison on August 18.
Thuc reportedly said he will stop eating for ten days in a bid to request Vietnam’s authorities to respect the country’s law and release all prisoners of conscience who were convicted on “attempting to overthrow the government” under Article 79 of the 1999 Penal Code and Article 109 of the 2015 Penal Code. However, he would extend his hunger strike if his requests are not met on August 23.
In order to force him to confess, the authorities in the prison limit his right to write letters to his family and send petitions to state agencies, particularly only one person from his family can receive his letters and he can only send his petitions to one state agency and two petitions a month. The prison authorities have kept his petitions to the state president and four petitions to the Supreme People’s Court and the People’s Court of Nghe An.
This is one of a number of hunger strikes Mr. Thuc has been made in the last few years to protest inhumane treatments of the prison’s authorities.
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