Vietnam Blogger Network Condemns Hanoi over Arbitrary Arrest of Republican Party Leader

nguyen viet dung

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 serious violation of human rights, it noted.
The VBN calls on all Vietnamese to condemn the arrest of Mr. Dung and continue to voice to prevent further cutting valuable aged trees in Hanoi to protect the city’s green lung and environment.

By Vu Quoc Ngu | Apr 25, 2015

The unsanctioned Vietnam Blogger Network (VBN) has released a statement condemning the recent arrest of Nguyen Viet Dung, the founder and leader of the newly-established Republican Party of Vietnam.

Mr. Dung, 30, and his four fellows were detained by Hanoi’s security forces on April 12 after participating in a peaceful demonstration against the city’s program to chop down 6,700 healthy aged trees in the main streets of the capital city.

Hanoi’s police released the four guys two day later but still keep Dung, accusing him of conducting public disorders according to Article 245 of the country’s Penal Code. Dung is threatened to imprisonment of up to seven years.

According to the VBN, Dung and his friends peacefully voiced against the massive destruction of trees in the city. The move cannot be listed as public disturbance, it said in the statement.

If Hanoi’s authorities considered Dung’s activities as illegal, so they have to arrest hundreds of others who also took part in the demonstration on the Sunday two weeks ago since everyone is equal before the law, the independent organization said.

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 serious violation of human rights, it noted.

The VBN calls on all Vietnamese to condemn the arrest of Mr. Dung and continue to voice to prevent further cutting valuable aged trees in Hanoi to protect the city’s green lung and environment.

No tree can survive if its savior cannot protect himself, the VBN said in its statement released on April 21.

The VBN is an unregistered body of independent Vietnamese bloggers who have been fighting for freedom of speech in the communist nation. On April 10, its co-founder Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (nickname Me Nam or Mushroom Mother) was honored by the Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders with Civil Rights Defender of the Year award.

Meanwhile, environmentalists in Hanoi have declared that they will hold the 6th demonstration on April 26 to protest the Hanoi’s VND270 trillion ($12.5 billion) project which aims to replace 6,700 healthy aged trees with young ones in the city’s main streets in the 2015-2020 period.

Several days ago, Trinh Anh Tuan, one of the most active figures in organizing green demonstrations, was brutally attacked by plainclothes agents who used brick to cause severe injuries in Tuan’s head.

Hanoi’s police have also harassed, intimidated and threatened other environmentalists with aim to discourage them to take part in peaceful demonstrations.

The communist government in Vietnam has tolerated any demonstration which is not organized by state-controlled agencies and organizations.

Vowing to maintain one-party regime, Vietnam’s communist government has strived not to allow the establishment of opposition parties.

It has hired thugs to attack local dissidents and human rights activists, according to a recent report of the New York-based Human Rights  Watch.