2013 conviction of Vietnamese dissidents

none On January 8–9, 2013 a trial was held by the People's Court of Nghệ An Province, Vietnam for 14 democracy activists, primarily belonging to the Catholic church,https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-vietnam-muzzled-voices/2013/01/12/2e2e5bc6-5b74-11e2-beee-6e38f5215402_story.html?tid=sm_btn_gplus In Vietnam, muzzled voices 2013-01-13 2013-01-12 Washington Post including high-profile blogger Paulus Le Son.http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/news/article_1655830.php/Eight-Catholics-arrested-after-taking-part-in-protests https://archive.today/20130129035243/http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/news/article_1655830.php/Eight-Catholics-arrested-after-taking-part-in-protests dead 2013-01-29 Eight Catholics arrested after taking part in protests 2012-06-11 2011-08-09 Asia Pacific Newshttps://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/week-censorship-arrested-bloggers-vietnam-googles-new-censorship-policy-and-china This Week in Censorship: Arrested Bloggers in Vietnam, Google's New Censorship Policy, and China Blocks Tibetan-Language Blogs 2012-06-11 2012-02-03 Electronic Frontier Foundation Maira Sutton All of them were sentenced to 3–13 years in prison on charges of subversion.https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/01/09/vietnam-release-convicted-activists Vietnam: Release Convicted Activists - Drop Charges Against Blogger Le Quoc Quan 2013-01-09 Human Rights Watch 19 July 2012 Many human rights organizations have called this the "largest case of its kind" in Vietnam, and condemned the sentence.https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/world/asia/activists-convicted-in-vietnam-crackdown-on-dissent.html?_r=0 Activists Convicted in Vietnam Crackdown on Dissent Seth Mydans 2013-01-01 2013-01-09 New York Times Many organizations, including the US Embassy in Vietnam, have called for an immediate release of the dissidents.http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/pr10913i.html/ Statement on the Conviction of 14 Redemptorist Bloggers in Nghe An Province 2013-01-11 2013-01-09 US Embassy https://web.archive.org/web/20130113034028/http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/pr10913i.html 2013-01-13 dead Defendants All 14 defendants were arrested in 2011 as part of the 2011 crackdown on Vietnamese youth activists. They were writers and political and social activists, mainly belonging to the Redemptorist group. They have engaged in community service and fighting against land seizures and corruption. Recently, many activists have been critical of the Vietnamese government, backing other dissidents and bloggers and called for democracy and human rights. Some defendants have participated in peaceful protests in support of other previously-convicted dissidents. The defendants were: Name Age at time of arrest Hometown Background Date of Arrest Sentence Date of Release Dang Xuan DieuRequest for the immediate release of Dang Xuan Dieu, Ho Duc Hoa, Nguyen Van Duyet, Nong Hung Anh and Paulus Le Van Son, and the dismissal of all charges https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/09/30/vietnam-free-religious-activists-immediately 2012-06-11 2012-09-30 Human Rights Watchhttps://cpj.org/2011/10/in-vietnam-crackdown-on-journalists-in-past-six-mo.php In Vietnam, crackdown on journalists in past six months 2012-06-11 2011-10-03 CommitteeToProtectJournalist 32 Vinh City Businessman July 30, 2011 13 years prison term January 12, 2017 (sent to Paris)Boliek Brooks Vietnam Sends a Dissident to France but Blocks Another From Leaving https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/vietnam-sends-a-dissident-01132017155036.html Radio Free Asia 17 January 2017 Ho Duc Hoa 37 Vinh City Businessman August 2, 2011 13 years prison term Not released Nguyen Van Oai 31 Vinh City Catholic activist July 30, 2011 3 years prison term, 2 years house arrest July 30, 2015 Paulus Le Son (Le Van Son) 26 Thanh Hóa Province High profile blogger August 3, 2011 13 years prison term, 5 years of house arrest August 3, 2015 Nong Hung Anh 23 Lạng Sơn Presbyterian activist and student August 5, 2011 5 years prison term, 3 years house arrest June 5, 2014 Nguyen Van Duyet 31 Vinh City Catholic activist August 7, 2011 6 years prison term, 4 years house arrest January 30, 2015 Nguyen Xuan Anhhttp://www.albanytribune.com/09012013-vietnam-call-to-release-convicted-activists/ Vietnam: Call To Release Convicted Activists 2013-01-13 2013-01-09 Albany Tribune https://web.archive.org/web/20130113045454/http://www.albanytribune.com/09012013-vietnam-call-to-release-convicted-activists/ 2013-01-13 dead 29 Vinh City Catholic activist August 7, 2011 3 years prison term, 2 years house arrest August 7, 2013 Ho Van Oanh 26 Vinh City Catholic student August 16, 2011 3 years prison term, 2 years house arrest February 16, 2014 Thai Van Dung 23 Nghệ An Province Catholic activist August 19, 2011 5 years prison term, 3 years house arrestKết quả phiên xử các thanh niên Công giáo và Tin lành https://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/in_depth/harsh-sentn-for-christ-01092013071537.html RFA vi 9 January 2013 August 19, 2015 Tran Minh Nhat 23 Lâm Đồng Province Catholic activist and student August 27, 2011 4 years prison term, 3 years house arrestHai tù nhân lương tâm Trần Minh Nhật và Thái Văn Dung mãn án tù https://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/in_depth/new-release-2-prison-of-concien-08272015064432.html RFA vi 27 August 2015 August 27, 2015 Nguyen Dinh Cuong 30 Nghệ An province Businessman December 24, 2011 4 years prison term, 3 years house arrest December 24, 2015 Dang Ngoc Minh 54 Trà Vinh City Housewife August 2, 2011 3 years prison term, 2 years of house arrest June 2, 2014 Nguyen Dang Minh Man 26 Trà Vinh City Worker August 2, 2011 8 years prison term, 5 years of house arrest Not released Nguyen Dang Vinh Phuc 31 Trà Vinh City Worker August 2, 2011 3 years prison term, but the verdict was conditionally suspended January 9, 2013 Nearly all defendants were bloggers or students.Vietnam Jails More Bloggers https://thediplomat.com/asean-beat/2013/01/11/vietnam-jails-more-bloggers/ 2012-06-11 2013-01-11 The Diplomat Luke Hunt Among the 14 defendants, three of them come from the same family (Dang Ngoc Minh, her son Nguyen Dang Vinh Phuc and her daughter Nguyen Dang Minh Man). 2011 Arrests 2011 crackdown on Vietnamese youth activists Many of them were arrested in the 2011 by the Vietnamese government for protesting for land rights and circulating a petition to free prominent legal rights activist Cu Huy Ha Vu, a prominent human rights defender who was imprisoned for seven years in April 2011.http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/16039 Vietnam: Update – Front Line Defenders informed of the locations of detained human rights defenders 2012-06-11 2011-10-10 Frontline Defenders https://web.archive.org/web/20120604094532/http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/16039 2012-06-04 dead Prior the trial, Dang Xuan Dieu was quoted saying "I have done nothing contrary to my conscience", and that in punishing him, the government was "trampling on the eternal good morals of the Vietnamese nation." Trial The trial was held in the city of Vinh on January 8 and 9, 2013, by the People's Court of Nghệ An province, Vietnam.https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/vietnam-put-trial-14-activists-18158316 Vietnam Puts 14 Activists on Trial for Dissent ABC News 2013-01-08 Associated Press 2013-01-11 The courtroom was packed due to the unusually large number of defendants on trial as well as police. Outside the courtroom, relatives and supporters of the defendants clashed with hundreds of uniformed as well as plainclothes security police blocking them from gathering outside the court.https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/trial-01082013181353.html 14 Tried for Dissent Radio Free Asia 2013-01-11 2013-01-08Vietnam Jails Dissidents in Echo of Military-ruled Burma http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/23738 Simon Roughneen The Irrawaddy 2013-01-11 2013-01-10 The police physically attacked many supporters including elderly women and Catholic clergy and some were also temporarily detained. Nguyen Dinh Cuong's mother attempting to attend the trial had also been beaten by police outside the building in the afternoon. Charges The defendants were accused of having ties with Viet Tan.http://www.eurasiareview.com/11012013-vietnam-rwb-says-can-prove-innocence-of-convicted-blogger-paulus-le-son/ Vietnam RWB Says Can Prove Innocence Of Convicted Blogger Paulus Le Son 2013-01-11 Eurasia Review 2013-01-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20140408220258/http://www.eurasiareview.com/11012013-vietnam-rwb-says-can-prove-innocence-of-convicted-blogger-paulus-le-son/ 2014-04-08 deadhttps://www.senate.gov/~foreign/testimony/2008/DiemTestimony080312p.pdf Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs 2008-05-07 2008-03-12 https://web.archive.org/web/20080502193956/https://www.senate.gov/~foreign/testimony/2008/DiemTestimony080312p.pdf May 2, 2008http://www.alistaircoe.com.au/2009/viet-tan/ Alistair commends Vietnam pro-democracy movement Alistair Coe 2009-12-06 2009-11-12 https://web.archive.org/web/20110903181004/http://www.alistaircoe.com.au/2009/viet-tan/ 2011-09-03 dead All of the 14 defendants rejected the charges. Defendant Nguyen Dinh Cuong's sister-in-law Kim Chi stated that many defendants have attended training workshops organized by Viet Tan on leadership skills and online security, but that their activism was aimed at helping the people, not at overthrowing the government. Dang Ngoc Minh and her daughter Nguyen Dang Minh Man were accused of painting the slogan "HS.TS.VN" on the walls of a school, which means "Hoang Sa, Truong Sa, Viet Nam". The slogan has been used to support the case in the Paracel and Spratly Islands disputes that the archipelagoes belong to Vietnam, a claim that the Vietnamese government actually endorses.http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-vietnam-activists-trial-idUKBRE9080FO20130109 https://web.archive.org/web/20170808034443/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-vietnam-activists-trial-idUKBRE9080FO20130109 dead August 8, 2017 Reuters Vietnam jails 13 for subversion under "draconian" charges Paul Carston 2013-01-11 2013-01-09 Sentence The verdict was announced by Judge Tran Ngoc on January 9, 2013. Three have been sentenced to 13 years, and 11 others to 3–8 years on charges violating Clause 1 of Article 79 of the Vietnamese criminal code for organizing "to attempt to overthrow the government". At the trial, Paulus Le Son was the only one not to have acknowledged any wrongdoings.http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2020082203_apasvietnamactiviststrial.html Vietnam finds 14 activists guilty of subversion 2013-01-11 2013-01-08 According to Human Rights Watch, the supposed charges included attending a training course by Viet Tan in Bangkok, being members of Viet Tan or actively participating with the organization. A BBC report says that these sentences were among "the harshest given to any political dissident in Vietnam in recent years".http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/01/11/Vietnam-is-targeting-its-critics-HRW-says/UPI-57811357880760/ Vietnam is targeting its critics, HRW says 2013-01-11 2013-01-11 UPI International Response The United States Embassy in Hanoi stated that it was "deeply troubled" and called the trial a "part of a disturbing human rights trend in Vietnam." Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, condemned the arrest and calls for the "convictions to be squashed immediately". He states "The conviction of yet more peaceful activists is another example of a government that is increasingly afraid of the opinions of its own people. Instead of imprisoning critics, the Vietnamese government should be honoring them for their efforts to address the myriad problems facing the country that the government itself has also identified." Phil Robertson, the deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch also followed up with "this was the largest group to be brought to trial together in recent times." Reporters Without Borders quickly emerged and stated that it is "appalled at the groundless verdict handed down yesterday by a court in northern city of Vinh" and that it is the position to prove his innocence. The statement also reads that "We have proof that the Vietnamese authorities use false pretexts to convict bloggers that criticize them." The organization released a picture of Paulus Le Son attending a training course organized by Reporters Without Borders in Bangkok to prove that he was not meeting with Viet Tan as the prosecutors have claimed.http://en.rsf.org/vietnam-rwb-can-prove-innocence-of-11-01-2013,43896.html https://web.archive.org/web/20130114213251/http://en.rsf.org/vietnam-rwb-can-prove-innocence-of-11-01-2013,43896.html dead January 14, 2013 Reporters Without Borders Can Prove Innocence Of Convicted Blogger Paulus Le Son 2013-01-11 2013-01-11 Reporters Without Borders In a news briefing in Geneva on January 11, Rupert Colville, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations expressed alarm over the fact that "the convictions were handed down after only two days of trial [...] and that these latest convictions [...] exemplify the limited space for critical voices in Vietnam."https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43906&Cr=vietnam&Cr1= UN human rights office concerned over convictions of 14 activists in Vietnam 2013-01-11 2013-01-11 United Nations In a press release by Amnesty International the organization says that "the conviction and heavy sentencing [...] flies in the face of justice and is part of an escalating government crackdown on freedom of expression."https://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/viet-nam-release-13-activists-jailed-baseless-charges-stop-crackdown-dissid Viet Nam: Release 13 activists jailed on baseless charges, stop crackdown on dissidents 2013-01-11 2013-01-09 Amnesty International Duy Hoang, spokesman for Viet Tan, calls the trial "a disregard for peaceful political expression and democratic aspirations." The organization has neither confirmed nor denied that the 14 detained activists are among its members. https://www.voanews.com/a/vietnam_puts_14_dissents_on_trial_for_subversion/1579750.html Vietnam Opens Biggest Subversion Trial in Years Michael Lipin 2013-01-11 2013-01-08 Voice of America In an official statement, Viet Tan rejects "the fabrications peddled by the communist court to rationalize the 'subversion' charges".http://www.viettan.org/Fourteen-Human-Rights-Defenders.html Fourteen Human Rights Defenders Convicted in a Sham Trial in Vietnam 2013-01-11 2013-01-09 Viet Tan A statement by US Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez says "the final product of an unjust criminal justice system in this subversion case was a verdict of 100 years imprisonment forced upon 14 patriots."https://vietbao.com/a198887/db-sanchez-len-tieng-phan-doi-ban-an-cua-14-nguoi-yeu-nuoc-tai-vinh Db Sanchez Lên Tiếng Phản Đối Bản Án Của 14 Người Yêu Nước Tại Vinh 2013-01-11 2013-01-10 Việt Báo Daily News Other human rights organizations have called this the "largest subversion to be brought in years" in Vietnam. Call for Release Many other organizations have called for an immediate release of the defendants including Amnesty International, Electronic Frontier Foundation,https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/01/bloggers-trial-vietnam-are-part-ongoing-crackdown-free-expression Free Expression in Danger as Bloggers and Activists Go On Trial in Vietnam Eva Galperin Eva Galperin 2013-01-11 2013-01-07 Electronic Frontier Foundation English Pen,http://www.englishpen.org/vietnam-jailed-bloggers-to-face-trial/ Jailed bloggers to face trial Cat Lucas 2013-01-11 2013-01-07 English Pen Human Rights Watch. On January 4, 2013, Allen Weiner, the director of the Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law at Stanford Law School, filed an updated to a previous petition submitted to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in Geneva contesting the illegal arrest and detention of the defendants.http://blogs.law.stanford.edu/newsfeed/2013/01/07/stanford-law-schools-allen-weiner-files-update-with-united-nations-working-group-on-arbitrary-detention-on-behalf-of-17-vietnamese-social-and-political-activists/ STANFORD LAW SCHOOL'S ALLEN WEINER FILES UPDATE WITH UNITED NATIONS WORKING GROUP ON ARBITRARY DETENTION ON BEHALF OF 17 VIETNAMESE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACTIVISTS Judith Romera 2013-01-11 2013-01-07 SLS News https://web.archive.org/web/20130125220554/http://blogs.law.stanford.edu/newsfeed/2013/01/07/stanford-law-schools-allen-weiner-files-update-with-united-nations-working-group-on-arbitrary-detention-on-behalf-of-17-vietnamese-social-and-political-activists/ 2013-01-25 dead See also 2011 crackdown on Vietnamese youth activists Paulus Le Son Dang Xuan Dieu Ho Duc Hoa Nguyen Dang Minh Man Thai Van Dung Tran Minh Nhat Le Quoc Quan Viet Tan Ta Phong Tan Human rights in Vietnam References 3 External links US House of Representatives resolution addressing the arrests https://web.archive.org/web/20121212171236/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.Res.484: 2012-12-12 Statement by Viet Tan on the trial Statement by the US Embassy in Vietnam on the conviction Paulus Le Son Blog Category:No-U Movement Category:Political repression in Vietnam Category:2013 in Vietnam Category:History of Nghệ An province Category:Prisoners and detainees of Vietnam Category:Vietnamese democracy activists Category:Vietnamese dissidents Category:Vietnamese prisoners and detainees