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Vietnam human rights lawyer arrested for subversion

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Prominent Vietnamese pro-democracy lawyer Le Cong Dinh was arrested Saturday by Vietnam forces for allegedly conspiring against the government, according to state media. Dinh was charged with "colluding with foreign reactionaries to sabotage the Vietnamese State," in violation of Article 88 of the Vietnamese penal code, for the alleged distribution of anti-government documents. The penal code provides that such a violation can be punishable by three to 12 years imprisonment. The government has accused Dinh of publishing documents that distorted the laws of the Communist Party and the state, calling for a change in leadership, and libeling current leaders including Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. According to state media, Dinh had become involved with the People's Action Party and the Democratic Party of Vietnam, allegedly planning to overthrow the communist government in the year 2010. Authorities additionally claim that Dinh and his cohorts wrote a new constitution for the country to replace the current one. Dinh, who became well-known after defending Vietnamese interests in a catfish trade dispute with the US, has represented several pro-democracy and human rights advocates in the past, including other lawyers charged with subversion. Restrictions on expression have become a recurring issue in Vietnam. Earlier this year, two Vietnamese newspaper editors were dismissed from their jobs for protesting the arrests of two journalists who reported on government corruption. The arrested reporters, who were accused of 'abusing freedom and democracy,' were sentenced to two years of prison and "re-education" for reporting on the so-called PMU 18 corruption scandal.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on June 15, 2009 (boomark / email).