WASHINGTON– “Today’s decision by Vietnam’s Supreme Appeals Court to uphold bogus jail sentences for pro-democracy advocates Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan marks another in a series of sham trials and is further evidence that the regime in Hanoi continues to carry-out human rights abuses with impunity,” said U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) a leading human rights lawmaker in the U.S. Congress. Smith added, “Some of the finest human rights activists are persecuted by the Government of Vietnam and we will continue to work for real justice and their release.” Smith’s comments were in response to today’s reports that the Supreme Appeals Court in Hanoi upheld the previous conviction of human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan. Citing good behavior and past history, the Court reduced the sentences of Dai and Nhan by one year each while still unjustly maintaining the bulk of their prison terms. “The U.S. government must take a stand against these repeated abuses and let the Vietnamese Government know that continued human rights violations will not go unnoticed or unpunished,” said Smith, author of legislation promoting human rights in Vietnam. On September 18, 2007, by a resounding vote of 414-3, the U.S. House of Representatives forcefully condemned human rights abuses in Vietnam and approved the “Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2007” to sanction the Vietnamese Government until real progress is made on the release of political prisoners and other fundamental human rights reforms take place. “Today’s deplorable events reiterate the need to immediately bar U.S. non-humanitarian assistance to the Government of Vietnam,” said Smith. Specifically, Smith’s bill, H.R. 3096, prohibits increased U.S. non-humanitarian assistance to the Government of Vietnam unless there is verifiable evidence that the Vietnamese Government has made substantial progress towards the release of its political and religious prisoners, respecting the right to freedom of religion, returning properties, allowing free and open access to refugee programs, respecting the human rights of members of all ethnic minority groups, and taking appropriate steps to end trafficking in persons. Article is sent by Ryan Goodwin, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Smith   more »

The People' s Democratic Party (PDP) strongly protests the sentences of lawyers Le Thi Cong Nhan and Nguyen Van Dai 's appeal trial and the use of brutal force to attack and prevent pro-democracy activists who came to attend the appeal trial including Lawyer Le Quoc Quan, Nguyen Phuong Anh, Nguyen Xuan Nghia, Pham Van Troi, Nguyen Vu Binh. The accusation of violation of the so-called criminal code‘s “Article 88” was baseless and also in contradiction to "Article 69" of the current Vietnam Constitution. Letter is in Vietnamese and in English by Cong Thanh Do, Spokesperson of the People’s Democratic Party   more »