Vietnam Authorities Use Tricks to Halt Defense Preparation of Imprisoned Prominent Human Rights Attorney Nguyen Van Dai

By Defend the Defenders, December 30, 2017

Vietnam’s authorities are using tricks to affect the defense preparation of prominent human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai, who is prosecuted on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 and “Carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration” under Article 79 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code, his wife Vu Minh Khanh told Defend the Defenders.

In his letter to her dated on December 12, Mr. Dai informed Mrs. Khanh that the investigation against him and five other members of the Brotherhood for Democracy ended on the same day. However, the letter arrived to her on December 28. According to the post stamp on the letter, it was sent to post on December 27, 15 days after he wrote it.

This is the trick of Vietnam’s authorities in order to prevent him from meeting early with his lawyers, Khanh affirmed.

Several hours after receiving his letter, Khanh received a call from a man who introduced himself as a lawyer from a law company in Hanoi. The man said he was appointed by authorities to be a lawyer of her husband since Dai has no lawyers.

Mrs. Khanh got confused, saying she has already submitted a letter asking authorities to allow three lawyers Ha Huy Son, Nguyen Van Mieng and Doan Thai Duyen Hai to assist her husband in defense preparation in the case.

The man said these lawyers are allowed to protect Mr. Dai on allegation of anti-state propaganda but not subversion which was added to him on July 30.

Mrs. Khanh told Defend the Defenders that she has to submit a request for the permission to allow the three lawyers again. It will take weeks for that while Vietnam is likely to try Mr. Dai and five other members of the Brotherhood for Democracy soon.

This is not the new trick from authorities, Khanh said, recalling her husband’s case in 2007 when he was arrested and convicted on allegation of anti-state propaganda. She said in that case, authorities also delayed a notice to the family in order to shorten the time needed for his lawyers to meet him for defense preparation.

Mr. Dai together with his assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha was arrested on December 16, 2015 on charge of conducting anti-state propaganda. Holding the duo in more than 19 months without trying, authorities added them with subversion allegation on July 30 this year when they arrested Nguyen Trung Ton, Pham Van Troi, Truong Minh Duc and Nguyen Bac Truyen on the same charge. The first three are key members of the Brotherhood for Democracy while the last is the online organization’s co-founder but left it years ago.

The detainees have been held incommunicado since July 30 while Mr. Dai was permitted to meet with his wife three times in 2016.

Several days earlier, the detainees were allowed to write letters to their families after the investigation ended, the first communication between them and their relatives since being held.

The Police Investigation Agency has handed over the investigation results to the Supreme People’s Court, advising it to prosecute the six activists with allegation of subversion. It is expected the trial against them to be held in coming months.

Vietnam’s communist regime has little tolerance to critics amid growing social dissatisfaction triggered by systemic corruption, human rights violations, bad economic management and environmental pollution. In order to maintain the country under a one-party regime, the communist government has launched the most severe crackdown for many years on local political dissidents, human rights advocates, social activists and online bloggers.

Since the beginning of this year, Vietnam has detained more than 40 activists and charged them with severe allegations in national security provisions of the Penal Code. Hanoi has convicted 20 activists, imprisoning them with hard sentences of between three and 16 years in jail.

Many democratic governments and international and domestic rights groups have criticized Vietnam’s ongoing persecution, demanding Vietnam to end the crackdown and release all prisoners of conscience.

According to the US-based organization BPSOS, and Defend the Defenders and 13 other rights groups, Vietnam is holding 165 prisoners of conscience until November while Human Rights Watch said Hanoi is imprisoning over 100 of political prisoners.

Vietnam always denies of holding prisoners of conscience but only law violators.