A businessman who has been in detention since last year has been indicted in Vietnam for allegedly spreading information against the state and slandering its leaders.
Businessman Nguyen Duc Quoc Vuong, who was arrested in Lam Dong province on Sept. 23, 2019, was charged of “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
A report from Radio Free Asia said Nguyen was not able to meet his lawyer prior to the indictment. His family was not also allowed to visit him in detention.
Nguyen’s lawyer Nguyen Van Mieng said he found the indictment was “very poor, because they only summarized [the case] in a mere four pages.”
The lawyer said the indictment, which was filed under Article 117 of the Criminal Code of 2015 and 2017, should have contained details of over 2,000 files, documents and reports related to Nguyen’s case.
Nguyen had previously been arrested and fined 750,000 dong (US$32) on June 10, 2018, by police in Ho Chi Minh City for his involvement in unrelated protests over law drafts on special economic zones and cybersecurity.
Radio Free Asia also reported that leaders of a Facebook discussion group who were arrested last week failed to meet with their defense lawyers.
The lawyers said it was a sign that their clients were being pressured into waiving their rights to legal representation.
Huynh Anh Khoa and Nguyen Dang Thuong were administrators of a popular Facebook group called “Economic-Political Discussion.” They were arrested on June 13 for “abusing democratic freedoms.”
Vietnam, whose ruling Communist Party controls all media and tolerates no dissent, ranks 175th of 180 countries on the 2020 Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index.
According to the group Defend the Defenders, Hanoi has arrested at least 29 activists, including 19 bloggers, for writing posts online, and is currently detaining 238 prisoners of conscience.
The country has been consistently rated “not free” in the areas of internet and press freedom by Freedom House, a US-based watchdog group.
