Vietnam: Internet Challenger To Google Redirecting Searches to American Web Sites

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A Russian-financed search engine seeking to challenge Google’s dominance in Vietnam is redirecting queries for some politically sensitive terms to the American company’s website, apparently as a way of avoiding government anger or legal liability for sending surfers to sites containing criticism of the ruling party.

The move Thursday follows an Associated Press story on the well-funded start up, Coc Coc, that noted it didn’t seem to be censoring results. The shift appears to illustrate the difficulties facing companies in Vietnam’s booming Internet sector, which must negotiate the government’s intent on stifling online dissent that is posing a challenge to its authoritarian, one-party rule.

For Coc Coc, it sends a message to the ruling party that it doesn’t have to worry about it encouraging dissent. But it points to possible difficulties for Google if it wants to open offices and promote its products in Vietnam — and not have to act as a government censor. Google currently doesn’t have a presence in Vietnam because it is concerned about liability for content on its servers.  Coc Coc has more than 300 staff and a large office in Hanoi, the capital.

The AP story Wednesday noted that Coc Coc searches for “Viet Tan,” a well-known overseas pro-democracy group outlawed in Vietnam, were similar to Google’s. Each brought up the English and Vietnamese language websites of the organization. By Thursday, that had changed. Searchers were greeted with a message saying the search “was not valid” before being automatically redirected to the Google page displaying the returns for “Viet Tan.” Searches for one of the country’s most well-known dissidents, Le Quoc Quan, were dealt with in the same way.

In an interview with a Coc Coc representative over an instant message service, the company said it “decided not to serve the segment of political queries at all.”

“We are computer geeks completely out of politics and keen on technologies only,” the representative said. “It’s not our focus at all. So that whenever you want to find something in English, French or about politics in Vietnamese — just please use Google.”

Google declined comment.

In 2010, Google shifted its search engine division in China to Hong Kong after censorship requests from Beijing’s one-party government. The decision allowed Baidu, a Chinese search engine that censors on behalf of the government, to dominate the market. Google does take down some material at the requests of governments around the world, but balks at wholesale censoring of content at the request of authoritarian governments.

Coc Coc, which means “Knock Knock” in Vietnamese, is the latest in a series of challengers to Google’s dominance in Vietnam, a country of 90 million people with one of the fastest-growing Internet penetration rates in the world. It believes that its algorithms make for a better search in the Vietnamese language. It is also photographing and filming commercial businesses on streets around the country, data that is used for a richer search experience.

Shaken by the explosion in online dissent, the government is drafting laws that would tighten freedom of expression on the Internet and possibly force companies such as Google to keep their servers inside the country. It routinely blocks and filters sensitive sites, sentences bloggers to long jail terms and is alleged to be involved in hacking attacks on websites critical of the ruling party.

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Follow Chris Brummitt on Twitter at twitter.com/

Vietnam jails activists for subversion amid crackdown on dissidents

Reuters in Bangkok

Pro-democracy activists convicted of trying to overthrow communist government, sparking human rights concerns

guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 February 2013 04.43 EST

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Vietnamese activists jailed – Phan Van Thu, centre, and affiliates have been handed lengthy jail terms for subversion. Photograph: Vietnam News Agency/AFP/Getty

A court in Vietnam has sentenced a man to life in prison and given jail terms of up to 17 years to other defendants after they were found guilty of “subversive activities”, according to the state-run Vietnam Television.

The verdict follows a series of harsh punishments handed down for dissent in the communist-ruled country, at a time of reported political infighting among the leadership centred on how to reform the economy and tackle management problems at big state firms that have led to bad debt.

The people’s court of Phu Yen province gave a life sentence to Phan Van Thu, head of a group that wanted to establish a new government in Vietnam, the television station said in a news bulletin.

Jail terms of between 12 and 17 years were handed to others in the case, the television station said without elaborating. “Their action has seriously violated the laws,” it added.

People’s Police newspaper, run by the public security ministry, said Thu and others had joined forces in a tourist resort in the central province of Phu Yen from 2004, printing anti-government documents until their arrest in February 2012.

Thu had spent time in prison for anti-government activities in the late 1970s, the newspaper said.

In January, 13 political activists were found guilty of anti-state crimes and sentenced to prison, a ruling condemned by rights activists as part of a crackdown on dissidents.

Late last month police arrested the human rights lawyer Le Quoc Quan in Hanoi after he wrote an article criticising the Communist party, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2013, published on Friday.

“The Vietnamese government is systematically suppressing freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and persecuting those who question government policies, expose official corruption, or call for democratic alternatives to one-party rule,” the report stated.

The government has made no comment on the report.

Among other cases, on 24 January security forces detained a blogger in the northern province of Hung Yen and sent him to a mental institution, according to a letter to Vietnam’s leaders from the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights.

Last week, the authorities deported Nguyen Quoc Quan, a US national of Vietnamese origin, after keeping him in prison without trial since April last year.

Quan was accused of subversion and of being a member of Viet Tan, an outlawed pro-democracy group based in the US, the Communist party newspaper Nhan Dan wrote.

Quan’s trial, which had been scheduled for 22 January, was dropped, He was freed on 30 January, the Viet Tan group said.

Vietnam Finds 22 Guilty of “Subversion” — Prison Sentences Begin

.

 

These men are on trial in Vietnam for  for subversion and trying to overthrow the government

BBC

A court in Vietnam’s Phu Yen province has jailed 22 people for between 10 years and life on subversion charges.

Prosecutors said the group had set up an eco-tourism company as a front for activities aimed at overthrowing the government.

The week-long trial was the largest of its kind in several years, as the government cracks down on dissent despite international criticism.

Last month, a court convicted 14 activists on similar charges.

In that case, 13 people – mostly Catholics, including bloggers and students – accused of having links to the banned Viet Tan group were jailed for between three and 13 years, while one received a suspended sentence.

Documents

State-appointed defence lawyer Nguyen Huong Que said the 22 men convicted in Phu Yen had “admitted their crime of aiming to overthrow the people’s administration”.

They were members of a little-known group called the Council for the Laws and Public Affairs of Bia Son [a mountain in Phu Yen].

The group’s leader, Phan Van Thu, was sentenced to life, while other defendants received jail terms of between 10 and 17 years, with five years of house arrest after that.

At the time of his arrest last year, state media had accused Phan of setting up two companies and investing in an eco-tourism park as a cover for recruiting supporters.

The defendants were accused of writing documents critical of the government.

Rights groups say the charges laid against the activists are routinely used by the Vietnamese government to silence dissent.

Dozens of people have been jailed under the laws since 2009, and the government has been accused repeatedly by overseas critics of stepping up repression.

An annual round of dialogue on human rights between Vietnam and the US was cancelled in December because of Washington’s concerns about Hanoi’s worsening rights record.

Last week, Human Rights Watch said the country was “systematically suppressing freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and persecuting those who question government policies”.

Above: Vietnam’s usual response to reporters, cameras and recorders: “No Comment” followed quickly by “You Under Arrest!” Vietnam, like China, has no real free media, no real freedom of speech and no real freedom of religion. The government of each nation is not accountable to the people…..

Vietnam Expels American Human Rights Activist

Vietnamese legal agencies on January 30 decided to expel Nguyen Quoc Quan from the country, realising the Vietnamese State’s humanity policy.

Quan, of the US nationality, was born in Hanoi on November 20, 1953, and is a member of the reactionary organisation in exile Viet Tan.

On April 17 last year, the Investigation Security Agency under the Ministry of Public Security arrested Quan in Ho Chi Minh City on a charge of carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration under Article 79 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.

The agency also seized many documents reflecting his illegal activities.

Quan pleaded guilty and begged for clemency so he could return to the US and reunite with his family.

Nguyen Quoc Quan

Photo: VNA

Read more: http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitr
enews/society/reactionary-expelled-from-vietnam
-1.97725#ixzz2JXDqHhrg

Human rights activist Nguyen Quoc Quan with his wife Huong Mai Ngo smile during a news conference after his arrival at the Los Angeles International Airport from Vietnam on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Los Angeles. Quan has been released after being detained since April 17, 2012 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

Vietnam frees American activist after 9 months

By CHRIS BRUMMITT Associated PressAssociated Press

 

 

 

Nguyen Quoc Quan

 

HANOI, Vietnam—Vietnamese authorities on Wednesday released and deported an American pro-democracy activist detained since April, a move that contrasts with the long prison terms given to Vietnamese activists who are members of the same U.S.-based dissident group.The release of Nguyen Quoc Quan came after U.S. diplomatic pressure and removes an obvious thorn in relations between the former enemies. Both countries are trying to strengthen their ties in large part because of shared concerns over China’s emerging military and economic might, but American concerns over human rights in one-party, authoritarian Vietnam are complicating this.

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Quan had “confessed to his crime” and asked for leniency to be reunited with his family. His wife, Huong Mai Ngo, said she doubted this was the case, suggesting that Hanoi was seeking a face-saving way of allowing him to go home.

“I don’t believe it. They say that about everybody,” she said via telephone from Sacramento, Calif. “If my husband was prepared to do that (confess), he could have been released nine months ago.”

Given the diplomatic sensitivities around the case, most observers had expected Quan to be released and quietly deported.

Quan, an American citizen, was arrested at Ho Chi Minh City’s airport in April after arriving on a flight from the United States, where he has lived since fleeing Vietnam by boat as a young man. The 59-year-old is aleading member of Viet Tan, a nonviolent pro-democracy group that Vietnamese authorities have labeled a terrorist organization. He was detained in 2007 in Vietnam for six months, also on charges relating to his pro-democracy activities, before being deported.

Authorities initially accused Quan of terrorism, but he was later charged with subversion against the state, which carries penalties ranging from 12 years in prison to death. Earlier this month, 14 Vietnamese activists associated with Viet Tan were sentenced to up to 13 years in jail.

Ngo said she had yet to speak to her husband, who was on a plane home, but that the U.S. consulate had informed her of his release.

“I can’t believe it,” she said. “I cried over the phone when I was told.”

Asked whether she believed Quan would try to return to Vietnam again, she said: “I can’t stop him, but I hope not.”

The U.S. Embassy, which had publicly called on Hanoi to release Quan, had no immediate public response.

Quan’s supporters didn’t deny that he had come to Vietnam from his home in California to teach non-violent resistance to the Communist government. His lawyer and family members said earlier this month that his trial on charges of subversion was imminent, but then said it had been postponed for unknown reasons.

According to a copy of the indictment obtained by The Associated Press, Quan met with fellow Vietnamese activists in Thailand and Malaysia between 2009 and 2010 and discussed Internet security and nonviolent resistance. The indictment said he traveled to Vietnam under a passport issued under the name of Richard Nguyen in 2011, when he recruited four other members of Viet Tan.

Vietnam is routinely imprisons proponents of free speech and those who seek to undermine the Communist Party’s monopoly on power. Last year, the country arrested and convicted several bloggers, part of a reaction against Internet-fuelled criticism of corruption, its human rights record and handling of the economy.

U.S. officials said last year they were delaying Washington’s participation in an annual meeting on human-rights concerns because of Vietnam’s lack of progress, including Quan’s arrest. Such consultations have been held every year since 2006. Congress members with large Vietnamese-American constituencies have been putting pressure on the Obama administration to get tough with Vietnam.

 

Vietnam: Subversion Trial Starts

The trial of 22 people charged with attempting to overthrow the Vietnamese government has begun in the central province of Phu Yen, officials say.

The subversion trial, one of the biggest in recent years, is expected to last five days.

BBC

In recent years, dozens of political activists have been jailed in the Communist state, which forbids political debate outside party control.

.

Earlier in January 14 activists were convicted on similar subversion charges

Earlier this month, a court convicted 14 activists on similar charges.

In that case, 13 people – mostly Catholics, including bloggers and students – accused of having links to the banned Viet Tan group, were jailed for between three and 13 years, while one received a suspended sentence.

State media quoted police as saying that the dissidents put on trial on Monday were part of a group with more than 300 members in several southern and central cities and provinces.

Among those on trial is the group’s alleged leader, who has been named as Phan Van Thu.

At the time of his arrest last year, state media accused him of setting up two companies and investing in an eco-tourism park as a cover for recruiting supporters.

The defendants are accused of carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the administration, which comes under Article 79 of Vietnam’s penal code.

The highest punishment for such crimes is the death penalty, but correspondents say they defendants are unlikely to face such a sentence if convicted.

There has been no public comment from any defendants or the group to which they allegedly belong.

Police have already shown total control of the area surrounding the court so no journalists can get access to any of the accused.

California man faces subversion trial in Vietnam

By Stephen Magagnini — The Sacramento Bee

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nguyen Quoc Quan would be among the 28,000 Sacramentans marching to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this morning if he weren’t in a Vietnamese prison for practicing King’s mantra for change – nonviolent protest.Nguyen, 59, was scheduled to go on trial later today in the People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City for”activities aimed at overthrowing the People’s government,” according to his indictment.

He was arrested at Ho Chi Minh airport last April under the name Richard Nguyen – one of several trips he’d made to promote democracy in Vietnam after being barred from the country in 2008.

A devotee of King and Mahatma Gandhi, Nguyen was first arrested by Vietnamese authorities in 2007 for trying to distribute 7,000 fliers he had written about civil disobedience.After six months in a Vietnamese prison, he was convicted of terrorism in 2008, deported and ordered never to return to the country he’d escaped by fishing boat in 1981.

Reunited with his wife and two sons in Elk Grove, Nguyen told The Bee he was no terrorist, but admitted he’d written the two-page flier, “Non-Violent Struggle: The Approach to Eradicate Dictatorship, Set the Stage for Democracy.

“The flier calls for widespread civil disobedience and urges protesters to “faithfully maintain the discipline of nonviolence.”Nguyen is a leader of Viet Tan, the International Vietnamese Reform Party, branded a terrorist organization by the government of Vietnam. It has strong support in Sacramento.After earning his doctorate in mathematics from North Carolina State University, Nguyen became a software engineer.

After moving to Elk Grove, he’d teach his sons about King and show them movies about the civil rights movement, said his wife, Ngo Mai Huong.”I remember the King march in 2009, where we started at the Oak Park Community Center and walked through the rain to the downtown convention center,” Ngo recalled.

She said it wasn’t the first time they’d marched in King’s memory.On that rainy Monday, he repeated King’s admonition that “when we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”"He loved that quote,” said Ngo.

Though he was banned from Vietnam, “he told me many times that won’t stop him. He’s been doing this for 20 years. If he quit right now, his life makes no sense.”His wife recalled a poem he wrote: Between life and death, I choose life. To protect life, I choose death.In April, he was arrested for allegedly planning to sabotage celebrations commemorating the communist victory in the Vietnam War, his wife said.

The terrorist charges were switched to subversion, and he had to stage two hunger strikes before he was finally assigned a defense attorney, said Trinh Nguyen, spokeswoman for Viet Tan in Washington, D.C. It took the government five months to issue an indictment and let him see his attorney, Trinh Nguyen said.”He has been traveling back to Vietnam and appearing at protests quite frequently since his 2007 arrest,” Trinh Nguyen said, but even his indictment accused him of promoting nonviolent protest.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Washington told The Bee it had no knowledge of Nguyen’s case or his upcoming trial, which was postponed at the last minute without explanation, his wife said.On Jan. 11, U.S. Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, Loretta A. Sanchez, D-Anaheim, Hank Johnson, D-Ga., and Gerry Connolly, D-Va., wrote David Shear, the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, asking him to take “immediate action to secure the release of Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan.

“The representatives said they were troubled to learn that “Vietnamese state media has labeled Dr. Quan as a ‘terrorist’ for the crime of training grass-roots activists in nonviolent advocacy, and are deeply concerned by reports that Dr. Quan is being charged with ‘subversion against the state,’ an offense for which punishment ranges from 12 years in prison to death.”The lawmakers added, “Dr. Quan’s arrest is not an isolated event, but a symptom of the Vietnamese government’s ongoing crackdown on dissent.

“Human rights officials in Germany and France, along with the European Union’s ambassador to Vietnam, Franz Jessen, have called on Vietnam to stop sentencing bloggers and human rights advocates to prison for exercising freedom of expression.

 Nguyen said Nguyen’s trial may have been postponed because the general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, is scheduled to meet with European Union officials this week and perhaps doesn’t want to call attention to the case now.When the trial is held, it will probably be over in one day, Trinh Nguyen said. “It’s verdict and sentencing all at once.

Their evidence is essentially materials that he has and he’s a trainer and he’s been active,” she said. “There’s almost no degree of burden or proof; his defense attorney has to prove he’s innocent within the very narrow confines of the law.”We’re concerned because of the trend of the severity of the sentences over the last six months; one activist received up to 13 years on similar charges,” Trinh Nguyen said.

“The Vietnamese government is not fooling around.”In a 2008 interview with The Bee, Nguyen expressed his love for the activists in Vietnam.”Those are the true heroes,” he said. “I just follow them in my way. I hope all the Vietnamese overseas who supported me will pay attention to those willing to suffer because they’d love to have a country with freedom.”

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2013/01
/21/4359679/california-man-faces-subversion
.html#storylink=cpy

************************************

Even DEEMS, editor, Academic

2013-01-15

The Court in Ho Chi Minh City will review Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan on July 22, 2013.

Photo courtesy of viettan.org

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan

Not guilty

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan, an activist of Vietnamese Americans arrested April 17 minutes after reaching the airport in HO CHI MINH CITY and accused of the crime of terrorism for planning a protest to disrupt the ceremony to mark the April 30, 2012. He was a member of the Encyclopedia and is Ho Chi Minh City Court for trial on December 22 this month.

Although Lin had discussions with Ms. Mai Huong is the wife of DR. Nguyen Quoc Quan in order to know more about this.

http://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/in_depth/court-
dr-nguyen-quoc-quan-on-jan22-ml-0115201
3234216.html

**************************************

Vietnam has been on a campaign to put the muzzle on people: Here Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly being restrained from talking at his own trial in Vietnam — Father Ly is one of Vietnam’s most prominent dissidents and has been a strong advocate for religious freedom and democracy for over 40 years. If his care is discussed by Vietnam’s bloggers, the communist government tries to find out who is involved so they can  punish the bloggers….

Related:

Bloggers Unite Vietnam, Friends In Protest Against Government

Vietnam jails second dissident blogger in a week

High-profile blogger Nguyen Van Hai was sentenced to 12 years in prison and Ta Phong Tan was given 10 years (AFP/File, Aude Genet)

Vietnamese government police outside court

Above: Vietnam’s usual response to reporters, cameras and recorders: “No Comment” followed quickly by “You Under Arrest!” China is only different in shades of gray… or grey!

China Catholic Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin Exiled for Defiance

Human Rights Watch Speaks Out On Vietnam

UN human rights office concerned over convictions of 14 activists in Vietnam

11 January 2013 – The United Nations human rights office has expressed serious concern over the convictions and sentencing of 14 political activists in Vietnam for subversive activities.

In a news briefing in Geneva, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Rupert Colville, said that the 14 activists were convicted on 9 January in Vietnam’s Supreme People’s Court, in Nghe An province, for “subversion of the administration” under article 79 of the country’s Criminal Code.

According to OHCHR, the activists were accused of actively participating in and being members of a political organization known as the Viet Tan. Reportedly, the Vietnamese Government considers the exiled organization to be a militant group.

The activists received sentences ranging between three and 13 years, with three of them receiving the 13-year sentence. All had been held in custody for more than a year prior to the trial.

“Although Viet Tan is a peaceful organization advocating for democratic reform, the Government has deemed it to be a ‘reactionary organization,’” Mr. Colville said. “None of those convicted are alleged to have been involved in violent acts.”

The spokesperson also expressed alarm over the fact that that the convictions were handed down after only two days of trial, and noted that these latest convictions – as well as the arrest and detention in late December of a human rights lawyer, Le Quoc Quan – exemplify the limited space for critical voices in Vietnam.

“We urge the Government of Vietnam to review its use of the Criminal Code to imprison people who are critical of its policies, and to review all such cases violating freedom of expression and association in the country,” Mr. Colville added.

Related:

Criminally Corrupt Vietnam Court Sentences Activists, Denies Human Rights

Human Rights Watch Speaks Out On Vietnam

Defendants in court Photo: Nguyen Van Nhat/REUTERS

Here is a list of Vietnamese found guilty this week of “crimes against the Government of Vietnam” along with their prison terms:

1. Ho Duc Hoa (13 years in prison, 5 years house arrest)
2. Dang Xuan Dieu (13 years in prison, 5 years house arrest)
3. Paulus Le Son (13 years in prison, 5 years house arrest)
4. Nguyen Van Duyet (6 years in prison, 4 years house arrest)
5. Nguyen Van Oai (3 years in prison, 2 years house arrest)
6. Ho Van Oanh (3 years in prison, 2 years house arrest)
7. Nguyen Dinh Cuong (4 years in prison, 3 years house arrest)
8. Nguyen Xuan Anh (5 years in prison, 3 years house arrest)
9. Thai Van Dung (5 years in prison, 3 years house arrest)
10. Tran Minh Nhat (4 years in prison, 3 years house arrest)
11. Nong Hung Anh (5 years in prison, 3 years house arrest)
12. Nguyen Dang Vinh Phuc (probation)
13. Nguyen Dang Minh Man (9 years in prison, 3 years house arrest)
14. Dang Ngoc Minh (3 years in prison, 2 years house arrest)

Vietnam admits deploying bloggers to support government

The bloggers have been hailed for stopping negative online rumours

By Nga Pham, BBC, Hanoi

Vietnamese propaganda officials have admitted deploying people to engage in online discussions and post comments supporting the Communist Party’s policies.

The party has also confirmed that it operates a network of nearly 1,000 “public opinion shapers”.

They are assigned with the task of spreading the party line.

The tactic is similar to China’s model of internet moderators who aim to control news and manipulate opinion.

‘Political opportunists’Hanoi Propaganda and Education Department head Ho Quang Loi said that the authorities had hired hundreds of so-called “internet polemists” in the fight against “online hostile forces”.

While the exact number of these activists is unknown, Mr Loi revealed that his organisation is running at least 400 online accounts and 20 microblogs.

Regular visitors on popular social media networks in Vietnam such as Facebook have long noticed the existence of a number of pro-regime bloggers, who frequently post comments and articles supportive of the Communist Party.

The bloggers also take part in online discussions, where they fiercely attack anybody who they see as critical of the regime.

On a recent BBC Vietnamese Facebook wall – linked to a story about measures to clamp down on dissent – one such blogger asked why it was that the US “gave themselves the right to criticise other nations on human rights”.

“They should have a look at their own record!” the blogger stated.

Another post criticises pro-democracy campaigners.

“The so-called democracy activists and intellectuals are becoming more and more ridiculous. They have shown their true colour as political opportunists. Their despicability has no bounds,” it says.

Mr Loi said such bloggers helped a great deal in stopping negative rumours and had blocked online calls for mass gatherings in the city.

Vietnam’s capital saw at least dozen public protests in 2011, but the number was greatly reduced last year.

The authorities also employ a force of 900 “public opinion shapers” who help talk up government policies and promote the party line across the country.

It is not clear whether these operatives, and the bloggers, are on official payrolls.

But they are being praised by officials as a sophisticated and effective tool in controlling public opinion.

*************************

Related:

Criminally Corrupt Vietnam Court Sentences Activists, Denies Human Rights

.

Human Rights Watch Speaks Out On Vietnam

Defendants in court Photo: Nguyen Van Nhat/REUTERS

Here is a list of Vietnamese found guilty this week of “crimes against the Government of Vietnam” along with their prison terms:

1. Ho Duc Hoa (13 years in prison, 5 years house arrest)
2. Dang Xuan Dieu (13 years in prison, 5 years house arrest)
3. Paulus Le Son (13 years in prison, 5 years house arrest)
4. Nguyen Van Duyet (6 years in prison, 4 years house arrest)
5. Nguyen Van Oai (3 years in prison, 2 years house arrest)
6. Ho Van Oanh (3 years in prison, 2 years house arrest)
7. Nguyen Dinh Cuong (4 years in prison, 3 years house arrest)
8. Nguyen Xuan Anh (5 years in prison, 3 years house arrest)
9. Thai Van Dung (5 years in prison, 3 years house arrest)
10. Tran Minh Nhat (4 years in prison, 3 years house arrest)
11. Nong Hung Anh (5 years in prison, 3 years house arrest)
12. Nguyen Dang Vinh Phuc (probation)
13. Nguyen Dang Minh Man (9 years in prison, 3 years house arrest)
14. Dang Ngoc Minh (3 years in prison, 2 years house arrest)

*************************************

Reuters Called Law Used To Jail Vietnamese Activists “Draconian”

Jan 9 (Reuters) – Thirteen political activists were found

guilty of anti-state crimes in Vietnam on Wednesday and

sentenced to prison, a ruling condemned by rights activists who

saw it as part of a crackdown on dissidents in the communist

country.

Relatives of the defendants and several Catholic blogs said

the 13, including bloggers and members of a Catholic church,

were sentenced to terms ranging from three to 13 years. Another

accused received a suspended sentence.

Court officials declined to provide details of the verdict,

which was read out after a two-day hearing during which large

numbers of police were deployed around the courthouse.

The court in Vinh, 300 km (190 miles) south of Hanoi, found

them guilty of “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing

the people’s administration”, a charge under Article 79 of the

penal code that can carry the death penalty.

“Article 79 is a very draconian charge,” said Phil

Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “There is

nothing to indicate the defendants intended to overthrow the

government.”

“This trial is in the middle of a deepening crackdown that’s

been gradually picking up speed in the past year, year and a

half. They’re mowing down the ranks of activists in Vietnam,” he

said.

In a statement, the U.S. embassy in Hanoi said it was

“deeply troubled” by reports of the convictions.

“The government’s treatment of these individuals appears to

be inconsistent with Vietnam’s obligations under the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as

the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

relating to freedom of expression and due process,” it said,

calling for all prisoners of conscience to be freed.

The 14 defendants were arrested between August and December

2011 and held for more than a year before standing trial.

Rights groups say they are peaceful protesters and advocates

of workers rights and democracy, plus supporters of other

imprisoned activists.

Government officials were not available for comment.

FEAR OF PROTESTS

Eleven of the defendants were identified in an official

indictment as members of Viet Tan, an outlawed pro-democracy

group based in the United States. The activities deemed

subversive included attending a digital security workshop in

Thailand.

“People in Vietnam have the right to participate in the

political affairs of the country. They have the basic right of

belonging to any political organisation they choose,” Duy Hoang,

a spokesman for Viet Tan, told Reuters.

“No one is accused of doing anything that is actually a

‘wrong’ activity. They are being persecuted,” he said.

Hoang declined to say whether any of the defendants were

members of the party.

Dang Ngoc Minh and her daughter Nguyen Dang Minh Man were

accused of painting the slogan “HS.TS.VN” on a school. According

to the defendants, that meant “Hoang Sa, Truong Sa, Viet Nam” –

or “the Paracel and Spratly Islands belong to Vietnam”.

Those islands are also claimed by China in a territorial

dispute that flared up anew in 2012. The Vietnamese government

agrees with the slogan, that the islands belong to Vietnam.

“Vietnamese authorities haven’t been able to say why this is

bad,” Robertson said of the slogan.

“Part of the reason the government cracked down on protests

related to policies on China is that it fears such protests will

get out of control and morph into something else.”

A crackdown could have international trade repercussions.

“There’s opposition in the U.S. to extending economic

benefits to a country engaged in activity so antithetical to its

values,” said Allen Weiner, a senior lecturer in international

law at Stanford Law School.

“The government of Vietnam is conducting a legal process

which is completely non-transparent. The courts are being used

as an instrument of state repression rather than honestly

adjudicating guilt or innocence,” he said.

(Reporting by Paul Carsten in Bangkok; Editing by Alan Raybould

and Robert Birsel)

Criminally Corrupt Vietnam Court Sentences Activists, Denies Human Rights

Thirteen political activists were sentenced to prison for “anti-state crimes” in Vietnam.

Defendants in court Photo: Nguyen Van Nhat/REUTERS

2:59PM GMT 09 Jan 2013

The ruling was condemned by rights activists who saw it as part of a crackdown on dissidents in the communist country.

Relatives of the defendants and several Catholic blogs said the 13, including bloggers and members of a Catholic church, were sentenced to terms ranging from three to 13 years. Another accused received a suspended sentence.

Court officials declined to provide details of the verdict, which was read out after a two-day hearing during which large numbers of police were deployed around the courthouse.

The court in Vinh, 190 miles south of Hanoi, found them guilty of “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration”, a charge under Article 79 of the penal code that can carry the death penalty.

“Article 79 is a very draconian charge,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “There is nothing to indicate the defendants intended to overthrow the government.”

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“This trial is in the middle of a deepening crackdown that’s been gradually picking up speed in the past year, year and a half. They’re mowing down the ranks of activists in Vietnam,” he said.

In a statement, the US embassy in Hanoi said it was “deeply troubled” by reports of the convictions.

“The government’s treatment of these individuals appears to be inconsistent with Vietnam’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights relating to freedom of expression and due process,” it said, calling for all prisoners of conscience to be freed.

The 14 defendants were arrested between August and December 2011 and held for more than a year before standing trial.

Rights groups say they are peaceful protesters and advocates of workers rights and democracy, plus supporters of other imprisoned activists.

Government officials were not available for comment.

Eleven of the defendants were identified in an official indictment as members of Viet Tan, an outlawed pro-democracy group based in the United States. The activities deemed subversive included attending a digital security workshop in Thailand.

“People in Vietnam have the right to participate in the political affairs of the country. They have the basic right of belonging to any political organisation they choose,” Duy Hoang, a spokesman for Viet Tan, told Reuters.

“No one is accused of doing anything that is actually a ‘wrong’ activity. They are being persecuted,” he said.

Hoang declined to say whether any of the defendants were members of the party.

Dang Ngoc Minh and her daughter Nguyen Dang Minh Man were accused of painting the slogan “HS.TS.VN” on a school. According to the defendants, that meant “Hoang Sa, Truong Sa, Viet Nam” – or “the Paracel and Spratly Islands belong to Vietnam”.

Those islands are also claimed by China in a territorial dispute that flared up anew in 2012. The Vietnamese government agrees with the slogan, that the islands belong to Vietnam.

“Vietnamese authorities haven’t been able to say why this is bad,” Mr Robertson said of the slogan.

“Part of the reason the government cracked down on protests related to policies on China is that it fears such protests will get out of control and morph into something else.”

A crackdown could have international trade repercussions.

“There’s opposition in the US to extending economic benefits to a country engaged in activity so antithetical to its values,” said Allen Weiner, a senior lecturer in international law at Stanford Law School.

“The government of Vietnam is conducting a legal process which is completely non-transparent. The courts are being used as an instrument of state repression rather than honestly adjudicating guilt or innocence,” he said.

Source: Reuters

Related:

Human Rights Watch Speaks Out On Vietnam