April 07, 2011
HANOI, Vietnam – Europe joined the United States on Thursday in expressing deep concern over the jailing of a prominent Vietnamese dissident, saying the country’s international reputation is at stake. In one of the communist nation’s most politically charged cases in years, Cu Huy Ha Vu, 53, was sentenced to seven years in prison on Monday for anti-state propaganda activities, including advocating an end to one-party communist rule.
He was convicted over his writings, interviews with foreign media, and Internet material issued since 2009.
“This conviction is not consistent with the fundamental right of all persons to hold opinions and freely and peacefully express them,” the European Union (EU) delegation in Hanoi said in a statement.
It said the seven-year jail term, followed by three years’ house arrest, “is particularly severe and we are also deeply concerned by the apparent lack of due process in the conduct of the trial”.
The EU also expressed concern over the detention of several people it said were peacefully seeking to observe the hearing, which took place under unusually tight security.
“The esteem of the international community for Vietnam, and Vietnam’s own long-term economic progress are not sustainable if peaceful expression, particularly on key issues for the future of the people and the country, is suppressed,” the EU said.
Vietnam on Thursday confirmed that two other prominent dissidents, Pham Hong Son and Le Quoc Quan, were detained “for causing public disorder” and are under investigation.
Diplomatic sources said earlier the pair were arrested while standing outside the court complex during Vu’s trial.
Vu’s father was a member of revered founding president Ho Chi Minh’s provisional cabinet from 1945.
The French-trained legal expert was charged after twice trying to sue Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung over a controversial bauxite mining plan and a decree that prevented class-action petitions.
In a separate case, Vietnam on Thursday confirmed that French-Vietnamese lecturer Pham Minh Hoang, who has been held in custody since August, is to be prosecuted for plotting to overthrow the government.
“Authorities are finalising the file to prosecute before the law,” the foreign ministry said in a written statement responding to inquiries by foreign reporters. There were no further details.
Official media last year quoted an investigator as saying Hoang allegedly wrote articles “distorting the state’s policies and activities”.
Hoang went to France in 1973 but returned after 27 years to settle in Vietnam, where he worked as a mathematics lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Ho Chi Minh City, his wife said after his arrest.
France’s foreign ministry in September voiced “serious concern” about the case and said it would push for a “favourable outcome”.
On Monday the US State Department voiced “deep concern” over Vu’s case.
Both the EU and the US said Vu’s conviction was inconsistent with international human rights conventions to which Vietnam is a party. Hanoi denies the accusation.
“We have achieved significant progress on human rights and this has been recognised by the international community,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga told reporters.
“And I believe that the promotion of human rights is also a factor contributing to the success of Vietnam and the development of Vietnam right now.”
David Shear, nominated as the next US ambassador to Vietnam, on Wednesday saluted warming relations between the former enemies, but he told a Senate confirmation hearing that Vietnam needed to improve human rights for fuller ties.