To : Mr. Nguyen Minh Triêt
President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Care of:
Permanent Mission of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Chemin des Corbillettes 30
1216 Cointrin
Geneva, May 8, 2007
Dear Mr President, Yours Excellency,
As former Deputy-Mayor of Geneva, honorary member of the Suisse-Vietnam Committee (COSUNAM) and an attorney, I respectfully call upon your Excellency to intervene in order to immediately release the so-called dissidents, Ms Lê Thi Công Nhân and Mr Nguyen Van Dai, both attorneys, arbitrarily arrested on March 6, 2007 and falsely accused of “abusing democratic freedom and conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”.
With all due respect, I firmly state that the Vietnamese Penal Code, which classifies as infraction for any peaceful opposition to the current regime, wilfully violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which was signed by Vietnam in 1982 and is restrictive for the country.
Today it clearly appears that the amelioration showed by the regime before Vietnam entered the WTO aimed at nothing but reassuring the members of this organization so that they would vote for its acceptance. Unfortunately, today as a member of the WTO, Vietnam has brutally stepped backward.
Deeply shocked by the behaviour of your government, I made the decision with a group of friends and various supporters to alert:
The Swiss authorities, in particular Mrs Micheline Calmy-Rey, president of the Confederation. Mr Pascal Lamy, General Director of the WTO. The media.
I really hope that with your intervention the proceedings in progress will be stopped and that the attorneys involved will be cleared of all charges without external influence.
I remain your sincerely,
Michel Rossetti
Attorney-at law
Former Deputy – Mayor of Geneva
1, chemin de Beau-Soleil
1206 Genève
