Activist Dang Dinh Bach, who is serving his 5-year prison sentence for the trumped-up “tax evasion” at Prison camp No. 6 (Thanh Chuong, Nghe An), has called on Vietnam’s communist regime to stop oppressing civil society.
He argued that the current one-party regime in Vietnam considers NGOs and social activists a threat to political security and conducts unjustified arrests and false accusations.
He also believes that the state must ensure sustainable development goals in a substantive and responsible manner, including but not limited to climate change, environmental protection, and human rights.
Bach also plans to go on a long-term hunger strike from June 24 to demand immediate and unconditional release.
Meanwhile, freelance journalist Le Manh Ha has withdrawn his appeal against his sentence of eight years in prison and three years of probation for the charge of “conducting propaganda against the state” under Article 117 that the People’s Court of Tuyen Quang province gave him in the first-instance hearing last October.
The family said that Mr. Ha did not believe in the fairness of Vietnamese legal system and would therefore find it difficult to be released or have his sentence reduced if he appealed.
Currently, he has been transferred to Ba Sao Prison camp (Ha Nam province).
On March 20, the court of Ba Ria city (Ba Ria-Vung Tau province) sentenced Facebooker Nguyen Nhu Phuong to 15 months in prison for “illegal possession of narcotics” in the first-instance trial on the morning.
Mr. Phuong was arrested on August 30, 2022 with a group of friends in a karaoke bar in Ba Ria city because the police discovered that the group was using drugs. The police also reportedly discovered drugs at the group’s drinking table.
However, Mr. Phuong, a person who often spoke out about many issues in Vietnam and criticized the authorities on Facebook during his time studying abroad and working in Japan, was not immediately prosecuted on charges related to the possession and use of banned substances, but was investigated and found guilty of “conducting propaganda against the state” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code.
In the trial on December 26 last year, he was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of probation by the An Giang provincial court for “making, distributing and propagating information, documents and items to oppose the state.” After being convicted, he was investigated for drug use.
His family said that he is a person who focuses on business and does not fall into social evils. He went out with friends to a bar for a drink and slept until he was woken up and then the police arrived. His family suspected of plotting to harm him because of his activities critical of the government.
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March 27, 2023
Vietnam Defend the Defenders’ Weekly report for March 20-26, 2023: Prisoner of conscience Dang Dinh Bach calls on Vietnam to stop oppressing civil society
by Defend the Defenders • DEFENDER’S WEEKLY
Defend the Defenders | March 26, 2023
Activist Dang Dinh Bach, who is serving his 5-year prison sentence for the trumped-up “tax evasion” at Prison camp No. 6 (Thanh Chuong, Nghe An), has called on Vietnam’s communist regime to stop oppressing civil society.
He argued that the current one-party regime in Vietnam considers NGOs and social activists a threat to political security and conducts unjustified arrests and false accusations.
He also believes that the state must ensure sustainable development goals in a substantive and responsible manner, including but not limited to climate change, environmental protection, and human rights.
Bach also plans to go on a long-term hunger strike from June 24 to demand immediate and unconditional release.
Meanwhile, freelance journalist Le Manh Ha has withdrawn his appeal against his sentence of eight years in prison and three years of probation for the charge of “conducting propaganda against the state” under Article 117 that the People’s Court of Tuyen Quang province gave him in the first-instance hearing last October.
The family said that Mr. Ha did not believe in the fairness of Vietnamese legal system and would therefore find it difficult to be released or have his sentence reduced if he appealed.
Currently, he has been transferred to Ba Sao Prison camp (Ha Nam province).
On March 20, the court of Ba Ria city (Ba Ria-Vung Tau province) sentenced Facebooker Nguyen Nhu Phuong to 15 months in prison for “illegal possession of narcotics” in the first-instance trial on the morning.
Mr. Phuong was arrested on August 30, 2022 with a group of friends in a karaoke bar in Ba Ria city because the police discovered that the group was using drugs. The police also reportedly discovered drugs at the group’s drinking table.
However, Mr. Phuong, a person who often spoke out about many issues in Vietnam and criticized the authorities on Facebook during his time studying abroad and working in Japan, was not immediately prosecuted on charges related to the possession and use of banned substances, but was investigated and found guilty of “conducting propaganda against the state” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code.
In the trial on December 26 last year, he was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of probation by the An Giang provincial court for “making, distributing and propagating information, documents and items to oppose the state.” After being convicted, he was investigated for drug use.
His family said that he is a person who focuses on business and does not fall into social evils. He went out with friends to a bar for a drink and slept until he was woken up and then the police arrived. His family suspected of plotting to harm him because of his activities critical of the government.
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