Hundreds of social activists and land petitioners gathered in front of the court building to demand for release of Nguyen Viet Dung
On March 3, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released a statement concerning the arrest of Mr. Dung. In its statement, the UN’s agency said Dung’s deprivation of liberty is arbitrary and requests Vietnam “to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Mr. Nguyen Viet Dung without delay and bring it into conformity with the standards and principles set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
By Vu Quoc Ngu, March 11, 2016
The People’s Court in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi on March 11 rejected the appeal of Nguyen Viet Dung, the leader and the founder of unsanctioned Republican Party of Vietnam who was sentenced to 15 months in prison on charge of causing public disorder under Article 245 of the country’s Penal Code in a first-instance trial on December 14 last year which failed to meet international standards of fair trial.
However, the court reduced his sentence to 12 month in prison without unveiling reasons for the sentence reduction in the appeal in which the defense of the defendants’ lawyers was ignored, said well-known lawyer Vo An Don, who was one of the two lawyers defending Mr. Dung.
The two-hour trial was conducted with maximum security as Hanoi’s authorities deployed a large number of police officers, plainclothes agents and military to the court’s areas. Unlike the first hearing, family members of the defendants were allowed to enter the court room to attend the hearing.
Hundreds of social activists and land petitioners gathered on streets near the court building, hanging banners and chanting to demand for unconditional and immediate release of Dung. Police shortly detained blogger Tran Quang Nam who tried to interview lawyer Vo An Don after the hearing.
On April 12, 2014, 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 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 Trang 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 their opinions.
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 is not 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.
Several days after the trial, the London-based Amnesty International issued a statement calling Hanoi to immediately and unconditionally release him, saying it is concerned by the proceedings leading to Dung’s conviction which did not comply with the right to a fair trial.
Australian lawmaker Chris Haynes wrote a letter to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to warn her about the case of Dung and urge her to take actions for his release.
On March 3, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released a statement concerning the arrest of Mr. Dung. In its statement, the UN’s agency said Dung’s deprivation of liberty is arbitrary and requests Vietnam “to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Mr. Nguyen Viet Dung without delay and bring it into conformity with the standards and principles set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
Mr. Dung’s arrest and imprisonment are 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 local security forces not to allow opposition to be established.
Recently, Vietnam has intensified crackdown against local government critics and human rights activists before and after the communist party’s 12th National Congress which was held in late January.
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 at least 130 political dissidents, bloggers and human rights activists while Hanoi says it holds no prisoners of conscience but only law violators.
Last year, Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang, who is expected to be the next president for the 2016-2021 period, labeled 60 unregistered civil societies as “reactionary groups”.
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March 11, 2016
Hanoi Court Rejects Appeal but Reduces Imprisonment of Leader of Unregistered Republican Party of Vietnam
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights], Nguyen Viet Dung, Tran Quang Nam
Hundreds of social activists and land petitioners gathered in front of the court building to demand for release of Nguyen Viet Dung
By Vu Quoc Ngu, March 11, 2016
The People’s Court in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi on March 11 rejected the appeal of Nguyen Viet Dung, the leader and the founder of unsanctioned Republican Party of Vietnam who was sentenced to 15 months in prison on charge of causing public disorder under Article 245 of the country’s Penal Code in a first-instance trial on December 14 last year which failed to meet international standards of fair trial.
However, the court reduced his sentence to 12 month in prison without unveiling reasons for the sentence reduction in the appeal in which the defense of the defendants’ lawyers was ignored, said well-known lawyer Vo An Don, who was one of the two lawyers defending Mr. Dung.
The two-hour trial was conducted with maximum security as Hanoi’s authorities deployed a large number of police officers, plainclothes agents and military to the court’s areas. Unlike the first hearing, family members of the defendants were allowed to enter the court room to attend the hearing.
Hundreds of social activists and land petitioners gathered on streets near the court building, hanging banners and chanting to demand for unconditional and immediate release of Dung. Police shortly detained blogger Tran Quang Nam who tried to interview lawyer Vo An Don after the hearing.
On April 12, 2014, 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 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 Trang 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 their opinions.
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 is not 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.
Several days after the trial, the London-based Amnesty International issued a statement calling Hanoi to immediately and unconditionally release him, saying it is concerned by the proceedings leading to Dung’s conviction which did not comply with the right to a fair trial.
Australian lawmaker Chris Haynes wrote a letter to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to warn her about the case of Dung and urge her to take actions for his release.
On March 3, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released a statement concerning the arrest of Mr. Dung. In its statement, the UN’s agency said Dung’s deprivation of liberty is arbitrary and requests Vietnam “to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Mr. Nguyen Viet Dung without delay and bring it into conformity with the standards and principles set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
Mr. Dung’s arrest and imprisonment are 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 local security forces not to allow opposition to be established.
Recently, Vietnam has intensified crackdown against local government critics and human rights activists before and after the communist party’s 12th National Congress which was held in late January.
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 at least 130 political dissidents, bloggers and human rights activists while Hanoi says it holds no prisoners of conscience but only law violators.
Last year, Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang, who is expected to be the next president for the 2016-2021 period, labeled 60 unregistered civil societies as “reactionary groups”.