VZCZCXRO2279
PP RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #0872/01 1311053
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111053Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5342
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 3016
RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000872 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV ASEC VM
SUBJECT:  HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYERS NGUYEN VAN DAI AND LE THI 
CONG NHAN SENTENCED TO PRISON 
 
REFS: A) HANOI 752 B) HANOI 839 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On May 11, the Hanoi People's Court 
sentenced democracy activists Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi 
Cong Nhan to five and four year prison terms, respectively, 
for "distributing propaganda against the State."  The 
trial, which lasted four hours, was orderly.  Journalists 
and the diplomatic community, including Embassy Poloff, 
viewed the trial on closed-circuit television in a room 
near the courtroom.  The prosecutionQs case revolved 
largely around documents confiscated from DaiQs law office, 
"democracy and human rights" lectures by both lawyers, 
participation in the pro-democracy Bloc 8406 and relations 
with the Bloc's convicted "ringleader" Nguyen Van Ly, and 
contact with "foreign reactionary elements," including 
U.S.-based NGO Boat People SOS (BPSOS) and international 
media outlets.  Despite a brilliant attempt by energetic 
80-year old defense attorney Tran Lam to take apart the 
government"s "weak legal case," the outcome was pre- 
determined and sentences fell within the prosecutionQs 
guidelines.  Local and international media were riveted on 
the young, dynamic lawyer Nhan, while Dai made a futile 
attempt to deny any "anti-State" or inappropriate 
activities.  End Summary. 
 
 
FIVE AND FOUR YEAR SENTENCES 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Despite an exceptional defense by their private 
defense lawyer, the renowned 80-year old Tran Lam, Hanoi- 
based human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong 
Nhan were sentenced to five years in prison (with four 
years probation) and four years in prison (with three years 
probation), respectively, by the Hanoi PeopleQs Court on 
May 11.  The prosecutor had recommended a five to six year 
sentence for Dai and four to five year sentence for Nhan. 
In a summary of the governmentQs case, presiding judge, 
Nguyen Huu Chinh, concluded that both Dai and Nhan 
knowingly violated Article 88 of the GVN criminal code, 
distributing propaganda against the State; were members of 
the dissident Bloc 8406 led by Nguyen Van Ly; taught 
classes to students that "spoke ill" of the Communist Party 
of Vietnam (CPV), Ho Chi Minh, and the GVN leadership; 
advocated civil disobedience; and had contact with foreign 
"reactionary" organizations including U.S.-based Boat 
People SOS (BPSOS) and numerous media outlets.  Issues 
related to internet freedom and political expression 
figured prominently in the trial. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Court allowed one Embassy representative and 
FSN interpreter, as well as other representatives from the 
diplomatic community and members of the press, to watch the 
proceedings in a nearby room via closed-circuit TV. 
Diplomatic representatives were not allowed into the 
courtroom.  Dai's wife, Vu Minh Khanh, was present in the 
courtroom and took copious notes.  It was unclear if there 
were family members of Le Thi Cong Nhan present.  Both 
defendants were brought into the courtroom in handcuffs. 
37-year old Dai appeared relatively relaxed in a white 
button shirt and slippers, whereas 28-year old Le Thi Cong 
Nhan was serious, fidgety and apparently sick and coughing. 
Local and international media present took particular 
interest in Le Thi Cong Nhan, known for her fiery spirit 
and sharp wit. 
 
 
THE GOVERNMENT'S CASE 
--------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The governmentQs case against both defendants 
relied heavily on documents and files from computers 
confiscated in Dai's law office and the testimony of three 
student witnesses who took "human rights and democracy 
classes" given by Dai and Nhan.  Participation in Bloc 
8406, the Vietnam Progression Party, and relations with the 
jailed, reported "ringleader" of Bloc 8406, Nguyen Van Ly, 
were also raised by the prosecution.  In front of the judge 
was a table with several "confiscated computers" on it as 
"evidence of criminality."  "Confiscated" documents used by 
the prosecution included: the "Charter of Bloc 8406;" the 
"Declaration on Human Rights for Vietnam;" a "Freedom of 
Speech" document; a document on the "Situation in Vietnam 
with regard to Judicial Mistakes;" an article authored by 
Le Thi Cong Nhan on "The Truth About Decree 31 (Vietnam's 
law on administrative probation which was repealed earlier 
this year);" a "Declaration on Democracy for Vietnam" 
document; a letter to a Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) 
 
HANOI 00000872  002 OF 004 
 
 
activist, Mr. Dung, in Germany; a booklet that "criticized 
Ho Chi Minh;" and the underground "Freedom and Democracy 
Journal." 
 
¶5. (SBU) The prosecutor did not discuss at length the 
defendants' relationships with foreign governments, despite 
the fact that several pre-trial media articles had cited 
DaiQs alleged funding from the reportedly California-based 
Viet Tan "terrorist" organization, as well as relations 
with the U.S. Embassy, National Endowment for Democracy, 
and several EU governments.  The judge concentrated on 
Dai's contacts with media outlets such as BBC News and 
Radio France Internationale (RFI).  In an interesting 
exchange, when the judge asked Dai why he had sent certain 
documents to BBC News instead of debating the issue here in 
Vietnam, Dai replied, "I did not believe I would be allowed 
to do so."  The judge later cited Dai's relationship with 
US-based NGO BPSOS, referring to it as a "foreign 
reactionary organization." 
 
¶6. (SBU) Three students, the government's "star witnesses," 
testified (with Dai and Nhan outside the courtroom but 
their defense lawyer present) that Dai and Nhan "gave them 
classes on human rights and democracy" and "the meaning of 
democracy."  Under questioning by the judge, the students 
each stated that Dai and Nhan heavily criticized the 
Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the GVN leadership, 
"in a spirited manner," and advocated civil disobedience. 
One student said that Dai "promised her a job" and travel 
opportunities. 
 
 
DAI ADOPTED STRATEGY OF DISAVOWAL 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) During more than one hour of hard and direct 
questioning by the judge, Dai (with Nhan taken out of the 
courtroom) took a strategy of evading, denying and 
disavowing.  He tried to protect his law office associates, 
stating that they were just "trainees working for me" and 
not bar-approved lawyers.  He also stated that Nhan was 
never "part of his staff," just a professional 
collaborator.  According to Dai, earlier statements he had 
made to the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) during the 
investigation phase of his case were made under duress. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Dai denied being the editor of the "Freedom and 
Democracy Journal" and a member of Bloc 8406.  He said he 
was invited to become a member of the "Freedom and 
Democracy Movement for Vietnam," but declined to 
participate.  He denied being the author of several 
documents, saying he either got the documents from friends 
or downloaded them from the Internet including the 
"Declaration on Democracy for Vietnam."  Dai claimed he 
only downloaded widely-used documents from the Internet, 
based on universally-accepted international norms and 
conventions.  He said his class teachings, which he 
"financed out of his own pocket," were academic and 
theoretical and did not involve current politics and 
leadership.  He said he did not believe he was doing 
anything wrong.  He said he knew Nguyen Van Ly but only as 
a fellow Christian (Dai is a declared Protestant).  The 
judge tried to get Dai to take responsibility for all the 
documents in his four staff-member office, but Dai refused, 
saying that although he was head of the office and 
responsible for his staff from a personnel management point 
of view, he was "not responsible" for all the articles that 
members of his staff may have downloaded or wrote.  He also 
said he "never signed off on" any of the international 
media articles that quoted him. 
 
NHAN TAKES HONEST, DIRECT APPROACH 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Under twenty-minutes of direct questioning from 
the judge, a visibly nervous, soft-spoken, and serious Le 
Thi Cong Nhan (with Dai outside the courtroom) answered the 
judgeQs questions openly and directly.  Media present were 
riveted on her every word.  Describing her background, Nhan 
said that she had been "sacked as Secretary of the Hanoi 
Bar Association for reasons she still does not understand;" 
that she was indeed an "ordinary member" of Bloc 8406; that 
she was the spokesperson for the Vietnam Progression Party 
(VPP); that she did write the article "The Truth about 
Decree 31" and did download from the internet a Bloc 8406 
article "advocating the boycotting of the May 20 National 
Assembly elections." 
 
 
HANOI 00000872  003 OF 004 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Nhan admitted to several interviews with foreign 
media correspondents; writing documents related to specific 
legal cases she was handling; and meeting Nguyen Van Ly on 
vacation in Hue in summer 2006 and also Ly associate Nguyen 
Nhu Phong.  She said that she was not an individual member 
of the "Vietnam Alliance on Democracy" but that she was 
associated with the movement through the VPP's group 
membership, and that she was not a member of the 
International Labor Union of Vietnam (ILUV) but did provide 
the labor union with legal counsel.  Citing a need to 
abbreviate the trial due to the defendants' "illnesses," 
the judge did not allow Nhan to be cross-examined by 
defense attorney Lam.  Nhan later stated that this was 
"unjust" and that she had committed no crimes. 
 
80-YEAR OLD DEFENSE ATTORNEY BLOWS APART GOVERNMENT CASE 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) 80-year old Haiphong-based defense attorney Tran 
Lam (known for his defense of dissidents Pham Hong Son and 
Nguyen Khach Toan) systematically blew apart the 
governmentQs case, arguing that the government could 
perhaps prosecute the defendants on political grounds, but 
not on legal grounds, citing loose circumstantial evidence. 
The presiding judge attempted to silence him on numerous 
occasions, but he made a relentless case, shouting back at 
the judge, "you have to let me ask questions!" 
 
¶12. (SBU) Lam praised Le Thi Cong Nhan as an international 
lawyer, trying to bring "what was best in the world to 
Vietnam" and cited her article on "The Truth About Decree 
31" as "welcoming and visionary" since the GVN repealed the 
infamous decree months later.  He said the government's 
student witnesses cited no criminal activity, and that they 
were already educated in politics and learned nothing new 
from Dai and Nhan.  Lam said the classes were based on 
widely accepted international norms and political theory 
and mocked the governmentQs statement that they were 
"reactionary."  He said the government gave no real 
evidence of advocacy of civil disobedience beyond making 
some criticisms of the government leadership, which was not 
a crime under Vietnam's Constitution. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Lam claimed that the supposed "dangerous 
confiscated documents" were "harmless" and just advocated 
for the CPV to change some of its methods; furthermore, he 
said the prosecution had failed to provide evidence that 
Dai and Nhan authored any of these documents. He did state 
that, nonetheless, Dai was "responsible" for the materials 
in his office.  He said it was ludicrous that the 
government should expect people to bring documents 
downloaded from the Internet to the police for pre- 
screening.  He said Nhan may have been the spokesperson for 
the VPP, but that the media would not even cover her 
briefings so the role was "harmless."  Furthermore, Nhan 
was an international lawyer by training so it was normal 
for her, as part of her profession, to compare 
international law with Vietnamese law.  Five out of six of 
the documents on the governmentQs list are 
"internationally-oriented" documents and only one is 
"domestic." 
 
¶14. (SBU) In summarizing the case for the defense, Lam said 
the State had a "very weak and largely circumstantial legal 
case" that Dai and Nhan "conducted propaganda against the 
state" based on Article 88 of the GVN Criminal Code.  He 
said the government might have a "political case" at best 
and that Dai and Nhan did nothing in a pre-meditated manner 
showing conspiracy.  He said the State did not have enough 
hard evidence to justify conviction; that the State was 
prosecuting the defendants based on "side talk" by 
students, and as a final point stated that "the abuse of 
power" by GVN law enforcement agencies "will be assured if 
you convict." 
 
FINAL STATEMENTS BY DAI AND NHAN 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶15. (SBU) Dai added, before the sentencing, that "I did not 
say anything bad about my country in my classes."  He 
insisted vehemently that storing Internet documents on a 
computer "should not be a violation of Vietnamese law;" 
these are "my rights as long as I do not publish them with 
intentions against the Vietnamese State." 
 
¶16. (SBU) Nhan stated that she found today's trial 
"unreasonable" and complained about not having a cross- 
examination by her defense attorney.  She continued to avow 
 
HANOI 00000872  004 OF 004 
 
 
that she had "committed no crime." 
 
FINAL STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDING JUDGE 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) Before the sentencing, the prosecutor and 
presiding judge stated that Dai and NhanQs acts constituted 
violations of the criminal code "regardless of their 
intent," and the lectures were "more than just classes on 
democracy and human rights;" rather, they "advocated civil 
disobedience."  Further, the collection of documents in the 
defendants' law office grossly "distorted the democracy and 
human rights situation" in Vietnam.  The defendants are 
"guilty as charged".  Nguyen Van Dai is sentenced to five 
years in prison with four years probation to follow.  Le 
Thi Cong Nhan is sentenced to four years in prison with 
three years probation to follow. 
 
MARINE