Statement from the Brotherhood for Democracy about the trial of members of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (Hội Nhà báo Độc Lập Việt Nam) by the Vietnamese Communist dictatorship government. You can download the PDF here.
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HỘI ANH EM DÂN CHỦ
BROTHERHOOD FOR DEMOCRACY
CONDEMNING THE COMMUNIST DICTATORIAL STATE OF VIETNAM
On 05.01.2021, the Court of the Communist dictatorial State of Vietnam opened the first instance trial and sentenced members of Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN), in specific, Mr. Pham Chi Dung to 15 years in prison, Mr. Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Mr. Le Huu Minh Tuan to 11 years in prison. In addition, all three men will be on probation for 3 years. They are accused of conducting propaganda against the dictatorial state of Vietnam under Clause 2, Article 117 of the 2015 Vietnam Penal Code.
The Brotherhood for Democracy states that:
1/ For more than 70 years of existence, the Communist dictatorial state of Vietnam has caused many barbaric crimes against the country and the people of Vietnam, for example, depriving the people of the right to participate in public governance and turning the people into the ruled.
The dictatorial state of Vietnam tramples on human rights, destroys the natural and social environment, and corrupt to the extent that a dissident poet must utter:
“Wherever the face turn to, nausea must be constrained
The era of knaves has come.”
2/ Exercising human rights such as the freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom of assembly as prescribed in the 2013 Constitution of Vietnam to combat and abolish the Communist dictatorship in Vietnam is the legitimate right and responsibility of every Vietnamese citizen, including 5 million members of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
3/ The members of IJAVN has exercised fundamental human rights, which is in accordance with the responsibility of any citizen toward their Motherland.
4/ The Brotherhood for Democracy considers the arrest, investigation, prosecution, and trial of IJAVN members by the autocratic state of Vietnam as a crime against humanity.
5/ The Brotherhood for Democracy strongly condemns this crime of the dictatorial state of Vietnam and calls on the entire Vietnamese people to stand up and fight to abolish the dictatorship of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
January 5th, 2021
President of the Brotherhood for Democracy
Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai
