VZCZCXRO9567
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH
DE RUEHHM #0451/01 1191043
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281043Z APR 08
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4434
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 3042
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 4658

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000451 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM VM
SUBJECT: GVN SENTENCES THREE MORE HCMC POLITICAL ACTIVISTS 
 
REF: A) HCMC 136        B)HANOI  065    C)07 HCMC 122 AND PREVIOUS 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000451  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Three democracy activists from the Bach Dang 
Giang (BDG) group have been  sentenced to two to five year jail 
terms in HCMC.  The three were found guilty by the HCMC People's 
Court on April 25 of violating Article 88 of the GVN criminal 
code by "propagandizing against the state."  This trial was the 
latest in a series of trials and convictions for pro-democracy 
activists detained since late 2006 and 2007 (reftels).  End 
summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On April 25, the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) People's Court 
sentenced democracy activists Pham Ba Hai, Nguyen Ngoc Quang and 
Vu Hoang Hai to five, three and two years of imprisonment with 
two years of probation, respectively.  The three activists, who 
are members of the pro-democracy group Bach Dang Giang (BDG) and 
supporters of Bloc 8406, were found guilty of "propagandizing 
against the state" in violation of Article 88 of the Penal Code. 
 Nguyen Ngoc Quang was represented by a lawyer, while Pham Ba 
Hai and Vu Hoang Hai defended themselves in court.  The three 
activists' immediate family members were allowed to attend the 
trial; members of the international community were not.  ConGen 
HCMC's formal Diplomatic Note requesting permission to attend 
was denied. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Family members told ConGenoff Ba Hai and Ngoc Quang 
pleaded not guilty, while Hoang Hai - who received the lightest 
sentence - chose not to contest "80 percent" of the charges 
brought against him.  Witnesses said Ngoc Quang spoke 
articulately and his lawyer debated so fiercely that witnesses 
standing outside in the courtyard could hear him.  Others said 
defendant Ba Hai complained he was not given adequate time to 
orally contest all the charges against him. 
 
The Brief History of the BDG 
---------------------------- 
¶4. (SBU) Pham Ba Hai, Nguyen Ngoc Quang and Vu Hoang Hai were 
arrested in early September 2006 on charges of "propagandizing 
against the state," and official news reports of the trial said 
the three posted Internet articles that "distorted history, 
attacked the administration, tarnished [the reputations] of 
Party and State officials and incited people to protest" from 
April to August 2006.  Prosecutors accused Ba Hai of being the 
"reactionary group's leader," claiming he paid US$ 1,000 to Ngoc 
Quang and Hoang Hai to work for his organization.  Ba Hai 
registered the Bach Dang Giang organization in India, where he 
also had a business, in late 2005.  BDG's former website 
characterized the group as a "gathering of progressive-minded 
youths to promote human rights and democracy for a prosperous 
Vietnam."  Lawyer Le Quoc Quan, a Hanoi-based dissident and 
associate of Ba Hai and Ngoc Quang, told ConGenoff that the two 
posted several articles criticizing the GVN's human rights 
record on the Internet and were planning to organize student 
demonstrations during POTUS' 2006 visit to Vietnam. 
 
Truong Minh Duc Update 
---------------------- 
¶5. (SBU) According to family members, Truong Minh Duc, the 
Internet author and member of the US-based "For the People 
Party" (FPP) and Vietnam's Bloc 8406, did not have a lawyer and 
was not allowed to speak in his own defense during his March 28 
trial in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang.  Duc was 
sentenced on March 28 to six years of imprisonment for violating 
Article 258 of the Penal Code, "abusing democratic freedoms to 
infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights 
and interests of organizations and/or citizens."  In March 2007, 
Duc allegedly publicized information about assets owned by PM 
Dung and his family and posted several articles on the Internet 
alleging corruption and injustice surrounding land deals in Kien 
Giang.  Duc's May 2007 arrest occurred after he became 
personally involved in a land dispute with a woman whose 
"adopted son" claims to be cousin of PM Dung's wife.  Duc helped 
the co-complainant in the dispute file a lawsuit against Dung's 
wife's cousin and tried to prevent local authorities from 
dismantling a house on the disputed property. 
 
¶7. (SBU) According to his family, Duc is appealing his sentence 
and is now being held at Cau Van prison in Kien Giang. 
Meanwhile, Duc's family remains concerned about his medical 
condition - they report that Duc broke his arm three months ago 
and still suffers chronic pain and partial loss of function 
because it was not set properly by prison medics.  His family 
claims his injury was further exacerbated when guards forcibly 
restrained him after he kicked a podium in frustration at his 
trial.  His family asked for permission to bring Duc to another 
physician, and Duc was taken to Kien Giang Provincial Hospital 
on April 17 for re-examination.  The doctor told him that the 
bone is healing but the joint between the hand and arm is not. 
The provincial hospital did not have sufficient resources to 
help him. 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000451  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi. 
FAIRFAX