A
KANGAROO COURT
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As people had predicted, the young lawyer Le Chi Quang was convicted and
sentenced to four years in jail and 3 years under house arrest by the People's
Court of Hanoi. Quang, 32 years old, has been charged with posting essays
criticizing the Communist government on the Internet.
The
trial had been scheduled for October 28, but then postponed probably to avoid
unpleasant effect on the state visit to France by Tran Duc Luong, president of
the Communist state government.
The
Hanoi court convicted Le Chi Quang of "acts of propaganda against the
state of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" during the 3-hour trial on
November 8. Public Security in uniform and agents in plainclothes were standing
guard outside the courthouse, forbidding the entrance of people who were not
invited by the court. Only Quang's parents were allowed inside after his
mother's fierce protest. None of the foreign journalists was present.
Quang
graduated Bachelor degree at laws. For the last few years, Quang has been a
fervent activist for democracy and freedom, joining the democracy movement.
Many dozens dissidents are its devoted members. He was arrested on February 21,
2002 at an Internet cafe where he used to post his articles and communicate by
email with friends in Vietnam and overseas.
He
was charged with distributing "reactionary and subversive materials." But his writing that angered top Communist
leaders the most is the essay entitled "Beware of the Northern Imperial
Court" (Chinese Imperialists), accusing the Vietnam Communist Party an its
government of having made unacceptable concession of land and sea territory to
China in the 2001 bilateral border agreements. His other works support the
movement for democracy and strongly praise his fellow dissidents.
The
court was not reluctant to disclose that the largest Internet service provider
in Vietnam, the FTP, had tipped off Public Security authorities that Quang was
using e-mail to communicate with anti-communist Vietnamese expatriates.
A
source from Hanoi reported that the lawyer approved by the court to represent
Le Chi Quang, Ms. Ngo Ngoc Thuy, was acting as if she were a prosecutor. She
affirmed that Quang was guilty of all charges and only demanded the lesser
sentence. The source also alleged that top Communist leaders had decided the
sentence days or even weeks before the formal trial.
Another
lawyer of Quang's family, Dang Huu Thu, sent the court a letter two days before
the trial, demanding that the court session be moved trial to a later date. He
complained that he was not given permission to represent his client early
enough to have time to study the case and to do anything necessary to conduct
his defense. His petition was denied.
Meanwhile, all foreign lawyers who volunteered to defend Quang were not
allowed to plead his case.
The
decision to sentence Le Chi Quang to prison could be followed by similar
crackdowns on other dissidents, if reactions from outside especially
international donors and world powers fail to build pressure strong enough to
stop Hanoi from further brassy violations of human rights. Dissidents who could
be next in the list are Pham Hong Son and Nguyen Vu Binh, who still are in
prison.
Son, a physician, was arrested for translating and posting an article called "What is Democracy?" which he downloaded from the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi. Binh, a former reporter for the Communist Journal, the Party's periodical for ideological indoctrination, was arrested Sept. 25 for writing an article criticizing the border agreements between Beijing and Hanoi.
After or possibly before Son and Binh, the two nephews of the Rev. Nguyen Van Ly might be put on trial for charges of similar violations. Their accusatory documents have been completed.
Duong Thu Huong, the woman writer who is a devoted Party member turned the most active anti-Communist, might be the next victim of the tyranny. She is living under the close watch of the political security agents. Last month, she was again a target for bitter attacks by party-controlled media. It could have been a preparation for a possible crackdown, a trick usually taken by the Public Security. And many others might be following her.
The trial of
Le Chi Quang met with criticism by rights groups all around the world. Ann
Cooper, executive officer of the Council for Protection of Journalists said, "Le
Chi Quang should be released immediately and unconditionally. Vietnam's
national security is not threatened by writers expressing their views which is
every person's right but rather by the regime's draconian response to any
criticism of its policies."
Robert Menard, Secretary General of the Reporters Without Borders
said in a letter sent to Hanoi's Minister of Justice that Le Chi Quang had simply
been exercising his right to free expression, as guaranteed by the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which had been ratified
by the Communist government in Hanoi. Menard insisted, "Even if your
government persists in abusing the basic rights of its citizens, we appeal to
you to free Le Chi Quang because he is seriously ill."
International
P.E.N. has stated its opinion on the issue: " PEN considers him to be detained primarily for his
criticism of the Vietnamese authorities and in contravention of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Vietnam is a
signatory. We therefore call for his immediate and unconditional release."
The
many dissidents, particularly those who are ranking party members, are harshly
protesting the sentence. The dissidents angrily argue that
Quang trial and sentence are against the very constitution and laws of the
Vietnam Communist regime. Among a few hundred people getting together outside
the Hanoi court were two men who loudly voiced their protest against the
court's decision. The two men, Tran Dung Tien, a brave sapper during the war,
and Nguyen The Dam, were then detained by the local Public Security cops.
Quang's mother
simply said, "He may be right or he may be wrong
in his opinions, but in no civilized country does one get jailed for expressing
a wrong opinion."
The VCP leaders seem to be scared by the increasing dissidence
from inside their party and the growing waves of information from the free
world flowing into Vietnam by the Internet. Despite criticism, Hanoi is trying
to take full control of the Internet communications from and to Vietnam.
Quang's trial might have been a part of Hanoi's intimidating tactics to
frighten the dissidents away from their struggle for democracy, in which Internet
communications is the best weapon to fight against the tyrannies.
Phan Thuy Thanh, spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry in Hanoi
affirmed last week that "We don't
support or encourage information that may incite our people, encourage violence
or pornography or does not conform with regulations for Vietnam. If it appears,
we will take necessary measures to stop it."
Her statement came a few days after Communist rulers ordered new
measures to tighten rules regarding application, operation and control of Internet
use, including monitoring personal on line activities.
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