A Lawyer and His Online Friend Jailed Under Article 331 after Discussing the Death Sentence of Ho Duy Hai

Key events:

• Lawyer Jailed Under Article 331 for ‘Defaming’ Court Officials
• A Court in An Giang Imprisons Social Media User for ‘Insulting the Party’
• To Lam Appoints Former Policemen as General Secretary Assistants
• Thai Court Will Announce Extradition Decision for Y Quynh Bdap in September

Lawyer and Activist Jailed Under Article 331 for ‘Defaming’ Court Officials

A court in An Giang Province on Sept. 4 tried and convicted a social media user and a lawyer on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331 of the Penal Code.

Phan Ngoc Dung, 69, a YouTube user, and Bui Van Khanh, 75, a lawyer, were accused of “taking advantage of their freedoms to distort, slander, and violate the honor and dignity of the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court, and the leader of the Supreme People's Court.” Dung received a three-year prison sentence, while Khanh was sentenced to two years.

The indictment declared that around the end of 2020, Dung often watched two YouTube channels named Hóng phim TV and TTAD 2, which hosted online discussions about the unjust nature of the case of Ho Duy Hai, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Dung had pushed for Hai’s release.

In October 2021, Dung allegedly established her own YouTube channel, Tiếng Nói Lòng Dân (The Voice of the People’s Heart), and invited attorney Khang, a lawyer from the Nam Dinh Provincial Bar Association, to answer the audience’s questions and provide legal analysis in her live streams because she knew Khang personally. State media reported that on Jan. 22, Phan Ngoc Dung surrendered himself to the Security Investigation Agency of An Giang Province Police due to the alleged defamation crimes that had been used against him.

Between October 2021 and January 21, 2024, the social media user and the lawyer reportedly hosted numerous talk shows and discussions, producing 1,200 videos on YouTube.

The Department of Cybersecurity and High-tech Crime Prevention alleges that a total of 12 video clips published on Dung's YouTube channel and her Facebook page, Dieu Nhan, contain information that “distorts, slanders, and violates the honor and dignity of the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court and the leader of the Supreme People's Court” and “insults the Vietnamese judiciary,” which “negatively affects social order and societal safety.”

Another Court in An Giang Imprisons Social Media User for ‘Insulting the Party’

The People's Court of An Giang Province on Sept. 4 tried and sentenced Tran Van Khanh, 62, to seven years in prison on charges of “distributing anti-state propaganda,” a violation of Article 117 of the Penal Code. 

The court stated that Khanh was a resident of Ca Mau Province. He later came and resided in Chau Doc City, An Giang Province, where he made a living by trading. In 2017, he created a Facebook account named Tran Khanh and became friends with similar Vietnamese users living abroad. From 2021 to August 2023, Khanh had allegedly seen these other accounts posting stories, images, and video clips containing content that allegedly “slander the Vietnamese Communist Party” and “criticize the government’s handling of the COVID-19” pandemic and shared that content on his Facebook account.

The An Giang Provincial Police said they had inspected Khanh’s social media, where they claim to have discovered and confiscated 183 pages of documents and five videos from his account. On Aug.  2, 2023, the Security Investigation Bureau of the An Giang Provincial Police also seized Khanh's cell phone and extracted an additional 1,195 pages of content showing articles Khanh shared on Facebook and five video clips “containing propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”

According to the court, the content Khanh shared sought to “propagate psychological warfare,” “distort and defame the people's government,” “insult the Vietnamese Communist Party,” “incite the people to revolt and overthrow the regime” and “cause divisions in religious and ethnic unity.”

To Lam Appoints Former Policemen as General Secretary Assistants

General Secretary To Lam, who assumed his position in August,  has appointed a former police general, a colonel, and a major from the Ministry of Public Security to be assistants to the Communist Party general secretary’s office. 

According to the announcement of the office of the Party Central Committee, Lt. Gen. To An Xo and Col. Tran Dang Quynh were appointed general secretary assistants, and Xo was appointed to be in charge of the Office of the General Secretary. 

Meanwhile, Maj. Dinh Tien Hai, secretary to the minister of public security, became the secretary to the general secretary of the Communist Party. Xo, Quynh, and Hai were To Lam’s subordinates when he was the minister of public security.

Several Vietnam experts had predicted that To Lam would fill the General Secretary's office with his allies after he secured the chairman position of the Communist Party. To An Xo was a former police spokesperson who assisted To Lam and his delegation during its visit to London in 2021. To was filmed devouring a gold-plated steak at the famed Salt Bae restaurant, which fueled a huge public outcry. Last June, Xo quit his post as a police spokesperson to assume a new role in the Presidential Office after To Lam ascended to his presidency in May.

Thai Court Announces Extradition Decision of Y Quynh Bdap in the End of September

The Bangkok Criminal Court is scheduled to announce its decision on the extradition of Montagnard rights activist Y Quynh Bdap on Sept. 30, his defense lawyer told Radio Free Asia (RFA) Vietnamese. Bdap, one of the founding members of Montagnards Stand for Justice (MSFJ), had his last hearing on Sept. 2, where his defense lawyers claimed that the extradition violated Article 13 of Thailand’s Law on Forced Disappearances.

Somchai Homlaor, a Thai human rights lawyer, said that returning Bdap to Vietnam could expose him to possible torture, coercion, and even forced disappearance. 

A court in Dak Lak sentenced Bdap to 10 years in prison during a trial in January this year, accusing him of coordinating an attack on two People’s Committee headquarters in the province and killing several policemen and civilians. However, Bdap and his lawyers have denied the allegations and said that his activism is nonviolent and only focuses on exposing Vietnam’s repression of the human rights of indigenous peoples.

According to RFA, the court on Sept. 2 proceeded to listen to the testimony of the defendant's witnesses, clarifying how Bdap’s extradition to Vietnam is illegal and could endanger his safety. During the hearing, attorney Somchai Homlaor argued that Bdap could only be deported if the court finds that he poses a threat to the country where he lives, in this case, Thailand. However, the prosecutor opposed Somchai’s argument and defended the Vietnamese government's request to extradite Bdap on terrorism charges.

Quick takes:

Report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Says Vietnam Sentenced at Least 34 People to Death in 2023:

An annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the death penalty said that Vietnam, along with China, still designated figures on the use of the death penalty as a state secret. The report was released on Aug. 31 before the 57th session of the UN General Assembly convenes between Sept. 9 and Oct. 9. In 2023, Vietnam reportedly imposed capital punishment on at least 34 people on drug-related charges. At the same time, the report mentioned that nonviolent crimes, such as “committing fraud,” also resulted in the death penalty, as in the case of the tycoon Truong My Lan during a trial in April this year.

The New York Times Opens Permanent Vietnam Office:

State media reported that Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang on Sept. 5 granted a license to the New York Times, enabling the newspaper to open its first permanent office in Vietnam. According to Damien Cave, chief representative of the new Vietnam office, the establishment indicated the country’s increasingly important international role and growing U.S.-Vietnam relations. He added that the permanent office could “contribute to telling the story of a changing Vietnam in all aspects and accurately and objectively reflect the U.S.-Vietnam relations.” The office is scheduled to begin operations this October.

Foreign Affairs Ministry Confirms Vietnamese Citizens Stranded in Brazil:

Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang said at a press conference on Sept. 5 that  Vietnamese citizens are among the migrants stranded at the Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo, Brazil, and he promised to roll out protective measures if necessary. On Aug. 23, Reuters reported that at least 666 migrants, including some from Vietnam, were stranded in the Brazilian city’s airport because they did not have valid visas to enter the country. Many of these migrants reportedly used Brazil as a stopover before they headed to the United States and Canada. Hang said the Vietnamese authorities are “closely coordinating” with their Brazilian counterparts to “monitor the situation and are prepared to deploy citizen protection measures as needed.”

Vietnam Insight: Learn more about Vietnam

Recalibrating the Laos-Vietnam Special Relationship For the 21st Century

The Diplomat/ Nguyen Thanh Giang and Nguyen The Phuong/ Aug. 30

“In today’s interconnected world, however, Vietnam’s relationship with its three neighboring countries is based on different principles, priorities, dynamics, and mindsets from the Cold War era. The western borderlands abutting Cambodia and Laos have been increasingly shaped by peaceful economic cooperation and the concept of common prosperity. This western frontier is home to completely different sets of “non-traditional” security threats. For example, trafficking in humans and the trafficking of illicit drugs from Myanmar and Laos into Vietnam has been a source of concern for Vietnamese police. This requires different methods and approaches to resolve.”