Trial of four pro-democracy activists, including blogger who studied in France

Reporters Without Borders calls for the acquittal of four pro-democracy activists – human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh, human rights defenders Le Thang Long and Nguyen Tien Trung (a blogger who studied in France) and Huynh Duy Thuc – who are due to be tried tomorrow before a court in Ho Chi Minh City of charges of subversion and trying to overthrow the “people’s government.” Their real crime, in the eyes of the authorities, was to have requested more freedoms, although these are universal values that cannot be criminalised. Trung, in particular, enjoyed freedom of expression during the years he studied information technology in the northern French city of Rennes. They all now face several years in prison for trying to exercise this basic right peacefully. All four defendants should be acquitted and released immediately. Convicting them unfairly will not help the authorities to satisfy the population’s expectations or put an end to a debate about the country’s future. On the contrary, it will just turn them into symbols that increase the pressure for freedom of expression. The four activists are accused of being the agents of foreign governments that want to destabilise Vietnam and of having links to the banned Democratic Party of Vietnam. In the government’s eyes, they are also guilty of drafting propaganda documents and inciting subversion online. Trung’s family told Reporters Without Borders that his father was allowed to visit him on 8 January for the third time since his arrest and that he seemed in good health and his morale was high. Trung was arrested at his parents’ home in Ho Chi Minh City on 7 July on a charge of propaganda against the state under article 88 of the criminal code. A government TV station broadcast taped footage in which he made a confession. A Trung support committee (http://liberez-nguyentientrung.blogspot.com) is campaigning for the young man’s release. A petition for his release can be signed at freetrung.tk A petition for Dinh’s release can be signed at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/294288684