THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF BARS DEMANDS THE RELEASE OF VIETNAMESE LAWYER LE QUOC QUAN
Adopted unanimously by the General Assembly
of the National Council of Bars
of 15 November 2013
The National Council of Bars, meeting in General Assembly on 15 November 2013,
Rises against the condemnation on 2 October 2013 by the People’s Court of Hanoi, of Vietnamese lawyer and blogger Le Quoc Quan, to thirty months in prison and to a $ 59,000 fine. Disbarred for life, he may no longer practice as a lawyer. Le Quoc Quan appealed the decision of his condemnation on 8 October 2013.
Le Quoc Quan is well-known for his human rights advocacy activities and as a blogger, as well as for his calls for political pluralism, freedom of religion and for the application of civil rights.
The National Council of Bars denounces the conditions under which the trial that ended to his condemnation took place. The hearing did not offer any of the fundamental guarantees of a fair trial as the discussions were not public and as the deliberation lasted about a minute before ending with the reading of an already drafted twenty page sentence.
This “procedure” aims to punish and to silent any dissident voice. In March 2013, a coalition of organizations of defense of human rights seized the working group of the United Nations on Arbitrary Detention to intervene as a matter of urgency with the Vietnamese authorities in favour of Le Quoc Quan.
The National Council of Bars
Reminds that the independence of lawyers is one of the essential guarantees of the democracy and the effectiveness of the rule of law.
Demands the Vietnamese authorities to take all measures in their power to ensure that the free exercise of their profession by the Vietnamese lawyers as well as their freedom of expression are guaranteed and protected.
Demands the immediate release of Mr. Le Quoc Quan.
Expresses its support and its solidarity to Le Quoc Quan, to his lawyer Tran Thu Nam, as well as to the Vietnamese Bar and to the advocates of human rights in Vietnam.
Paris, 15 November 2013
Source: National Council of Bars
