Lesson 2: A Lesson for Blindness
As Vietnamese citizens, the defendants must know that the Communist Party of Vietnam, founded and trained by Uncle Ho, led the entire people to successfully carry out the August Revolution, establish the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam), defeat the wars of aggression, unify the country, carry out the renovation process to build socialism and firmly protect the independence of the Fatherland. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a unified state, of the people, by the people, for the people. The defendants were all born, raised and lived in this country, and were given the opportunity by the state to study, live and work (9/14 defendants have college and university degrees). They should have known how to appreciate and be aware of their civic responsibilities, and to devote their intelligence and strength to the country and homeland. However, just because of dissatisfaction when seeing some negative aspects in society, accepting wrong views about "democracy", "human rights", mistaking the so-called "freedom", disguised as "freedom and democracy", "national renewal", illusions with prosperous prospects, the defendants committed acts of violating the law, selling their conscience, assisting the exiled reactionary organization Viet Tan with the intention of changing the political regime of Vietnam, overthrowing the people's government.
The audience could not help but feel heartbroken when witnessing the three defendants Dang Ngoc Minh, Nguyen Dang Minh Man and Nguyen Dang Vinh Phuc standing before the bar for the crime of "activities to overthrow the people's government". Although a teacher with many achievements and being commended by the school, Dang Ngoc Minh did not educate her children to be good people but also incited her children to "go astray". According to the defendants' testimonies, the reason they fell into this tragic situation was because the mother and son (Dang Ngoc Minh and Nguyen Dang Minh Man) regularly listened to VOA, BBC, New Horizons and accessed the websites of the Viet Tan organization. Being blinded by the empty promises of hostile forces, they joined the so-called "Vietnam Reform Revolutionary Party" (ie Viet Tan organization) and then went astray, entering the "maze" of illegal activities, opposing the Vietnamese State. After joining Viet Tan, Dang Ngoc Minh and Nguyen Dang Minh Man also propagandized and enticed Nguyen Dang Vinh Phuc (Dang Ngoc Minh's biological son and Nguyen Dang Minh Man's older brother) to join Viet Tan.
Having traveled abroad with her children to attend training courses of the Viet Tan organization many times and actively participated in activities directed by the leaders of this organization, but when she had the last word in court, defendant Minh choked up: “I am a woman, lacking legal knowledge, so I joined Viet Tan, violating the law. Since being arrested and in court, I have sincerely confessed and pleaded guilty. I ask the court to consider the situation of the three of us. I did not listen to my husband and pushed the two of us into crime. Now the three of us are in prison, only my husband is sick and old, but he has to work to earn money to visit and support us.” Looking up at the row of seats below as if searching for her grieving husband sitting in the crowd, the defendant sobbed: “I apologize to you. I apologize to you a thousand times. It was because I did not listen to you that I pushed my children to this fate. I beg the court to be lenient and reduce the sentence for me and my children. I promise to educate my children to become useful people for society in the future.” Like his mother, when he was given the last word in court, Nguyen Dang Vinh Phuc trembled: “I have violated the law, I ask for leniency so that I can soon return to society.” As for defendant Nguyen Dang Minh Man, when he testified, he was evasive and denied his crime, but when he said his last words in court, he had to exclaim: “I apologize to my father, I ask the court to reduce the sentence for my mother and brother. I admit that I am a member of the Viet Tan organization. I accept the judgment of the law.”
Sitting in the family row, tears rolled down the haggard, prematurely aged face of the man who is the husband and father of the three defendants. From Vinh Long, he traveled to Nghe An in the freezing cold weather to see his wife and children, witnessing his wife and two children standing in front of the bar, during the two days of the trial, he could only sit motionless with red eyes. He only hoped that his wife and children would confess honestly, repent, and receive leniency in order to be given a reduced sentence, and soon return to rebuild their lives. Only when he heard the court sentence his son, Nguyen Dang Vinh Phuc, who repented, sincerely cooperated in both the investigation and in court, was given leniency and a suspended sentence, did he dare to look up.
In this trial, many people felt sorry for some defendants who were well-educated and had decent jobs but still blindly believed in the "pie in the sky" of the Viet Tan organization. That was defendant Ho Duc Hoa, a university graduate, before being arrested he was the director of Tran Dinh Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company. With his knowledge, Hoa "wandered" on the internet, then contacted and communicated with Luong Van My (alias Duong) - a member of the Viet Tan organization in the United States. With the "illusions" drawn by the leaders of this reactionary organization, Hoa blindly became an effective member of the Viet Tan organization. Then when committing the crime, Hoa said: "Supporting multi-party pluralism because I see it as more civilized and better for people, especially for the poor. Learning about Viet Tan to build a more progressive society and the defendant has not done anything to overthrow the government, the defendant does not realize that his behavior is criminal". When participating in the activities, if there was no fault, no crime, then why did Hoa and the subjects that Hoa introduced to Viet Tan have to use aliases? Hoa's statement in court that he was "fascinated by the "non-violent" method of Viet Tan" was just a sophistry, lacking sincerity. Does Hoa think that he was fascinated by the "smell of dollars" and "free trips" abroad when participating in Viet Tan, forgetting that he was going against the national interest?
Defendant Dang Xuan Dieu is also a university graduate, director of a construction company, but through Hoa's invitation, and with Viet Tan's organization providing food, accommodation, and travel, he left the country three times, joined the organization, and attended Viet Tan's training courses. Particularly from August 26 to 31, 2009, Dieu and Ho Duc Hoa left the country through Cau Treo Border Gate (Ha Tinh), to Laos and Thailand. Here, Hoa and Dieu were introduced to Viet Tan by the leaders of the Viet Tan organization abroad, Nguyen Ngoc Duc (alias Quang), Nguyen Kim (alias Tan), Ngo Trong Duc (alias Minh), Nguyen Hoang Thanh Tam (alias Thanh), Luong Van My, and a person named Hung, and were trained in "non-violent" fighting methods, leadership skills, computer security, and instructions on how to select people for Viet Tan according to 5 criteria: honesty, prestige, discretion, enthusiasm, and education. In addition, Hoa and Dieu were also instructed on how to contact each key member of Viet Tan separately via Skype, email, junk phone SIM cards, and passwords. However, when standing in court, Dieu still refused to admit that he had joined Viet Tan even though Viet had been invited abroad 3 times and attended training courses with important, secret content of Viet Tan.
Defendant Le Xuan Son, a college graduate, was a knowledgeable tour guide who traveled here and there, but because of the “free tours” and “free” dollars from Viet Tan, he joined and effectively served this organization. During the investigation and at the trial, Son remained stubborn and did not admit to his crimes.
However, when given the final say, the defendants Hoa, Dieu, and Son knew they could not escape their illegal actions, so they all had to say: "The defendants accept the judgment of the law."
Defendant Ho Van Oanh's father had served in the army and was awarded a medal, Oanh's parents had been awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Provincial People's Committee for their achievements in the resistance war against the US to save the country. Defendant Nguyen Xuan Anh was an athlete who won many gold, silver and bronze medals, his father had also served in the army and was awarded a medal, his uncle was a martyr, his grandmother was a Heroic Mother of Vietnam... But then, listening to Ho Duc Hoa's persuasion, and being able to go abroad for free (Viet Tan organization covered food, accommodation and travel), he blindly joined Viet Tan organization, betraying the ideals of his own family members and his Fatherland.
Defendant Nong Hung Anh is an ethnic minority in Lang Son province, his parents gave him a good education, and he is a university student in Hanoi, carrying many expectations from his family, relatives, and hometown. However, instead of studying hard to repay his parents for raising him, Nong Hung Anh used the knowledge he learned to “wander” on the internet, through his blog, making friends with members of the Viet Tan organization and joining this organization.
During the days Nong Hung Anh was detained, his father was very disappointed and heartbroken because his son, in whom he had placed so much hope, had joined a reactionary organization and betrayed the Fatherland, something he never imagined.
Letter from defendant Nong Hung Anh's father to Nghe An Court asking for leniency from the law for his son.
When he learned that the People's Court of Nghe An province would try the case in which his son committed a crime, he immediately wrote several letters to the court, hoping that his son would receive leniency. The letter included: "My son, Nong Hung Anh, is a student who, while studying, was not fully aware and was gullible, was taken advantage of by bad people, lured into committing a crime, and is a defendant in the Ho Duc Hoa case. I myself was a soldier who participated in the anti-American war to save the country. I am very sad and angry about my son's wrongdoings." "I have great faith in the goodness of our regime. I earnestly request that the leaders of the People's Court of Nghe An province and the group of lawyers handling the case consider, take care of, be lenient and reduce the sentence for my son to return home soon so that he can have the opportunity to study."
For the crimes committed, the defendants must not only receive punishment by law, but also be judged by the court of conscience.
The mother's ultimate pain when her child is the defendant in this case.
It is worth mentioning that in this case, most of the defendants are young and well-educated. They should have used the knowledge they learned to serve the people and build the country. However, because they wanted a comfortable life and refused to cultivate themselves or do honest business, they were lured into crime by some reactionary elements at home and abroad, believing in the visions of a prosperous life that they painted.
And the question is why are young people and young intellectuals so easily lured and drawn into harmful websites, and then quickly become misguided? Is it possible that the desire for new things is the reason why young people voluntarily become "followers" of the online community? An explanation can be found here for the easygoing, gullible behavior that some defendants in this case have encountered. Not everything new is good, and that is the trap for young people when the online community is full of "dark websites, toxic blogs" that are discreetly disguised as the embodiment of new things. Going online to study, find news and get to know other netizens through various social networking sites is normal, increasingly popular and not prohibited by Vietnamese law. However, due to a lack of maturity and one-sided political awareness, and a lack of practical life experience to clearly identify truth from falsehood, right from wrong, the defendants in this case fell into the "poisonous trap" set by the reactionaries, and then had to suffer unexpected and unsurprising consequences.
Just because of small immediate benefits such as: being sponsored to go abroad, being given money and equipment and false promises of prosperous prospects... many defendants in this case "obediently" became "puppets" for the leaders of the Viet Tan organization to pull the strings. This story reflects a "path" that is quite common for "lost" people who have been "hit in the right place" by bad guys. These temporary profiteers only "protect" what they think will bring "benefits" to themselves, then fall into the path of sin, betraying their Fatherland and people, forgetting where they and their families are living, where that life comes from?
The presiding judge of this trial confided to us: It was the defendants' final words of repentance and remorse at this trial that helped them enjoy leniency from the law.
82 years in prison for 14 defendants is a severe sentence, a "price to pay" for those who go against the interests of the nation and people; a lesson to warn those who are ignorant and blind and plotting to sabotage the Socialist Republic of Vietnam - the revolutionary achievement of the Vietnamese people!
(To be continued)
PVPL Group
