The end for the traitor.

Portrait of a traitor

In the first-instance criminal trial of defendant Pham Thi Doan Trang (born in 1978), residing in Dong Da district, Hanoi, on the charge of "Propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," which took place on December 14, 2021, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced the defendant to 9 years in prison. This is a fitting sentence for someone who acted against the national interest and the historical values ​​that our ancestors sacrificed to build and preserve.

Pham Thi Doan Trang (42 years old), residing in Cat Linh ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi, graduated from Hanoi-Amsterdam High School and Hanoi Foreign Trade University. She worked as a reporter for the online newspaper Vnexpress, an employee of HAKI Advertising Company, VTC Digital Television Company, a contributor to Vietnamnet newspaper, and a reporter for the Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper. In 2013, Trang left the country without permission and was disciplined and dismissed from her job. During this illegal departure, Trang was contacted and lured by some reactionary elements into a life of crime, opposing the Party, the State, and the People.

Pham Thi Doan Trang at the trial on December 14th. (Photo: Archival image)

Under the direction and guidance of reactionary elements, Trang carried out subversive activities by establishing and participating in the operation of many illegal associations and groups, such as: the "Saigon Folk Songs" group, and the "Youth Beautifying the Homeland" group. Exploiting the names of these groups, Trang and several others organized music performances to gather and disseminate songs from the Republic of Vietnam era, and assembled a number of young artists and intellectuals to oppose the government…

In addition, Trang also established and operated websites such as "Law Journal," "Phamdoantrang.com," and "The Vietnamese" to write and disseminate content distorting the situation of democracy and human rights in Vietnam, slandering Party and State leaders, inciting opposition, and calling for protests and the overthrow of the regime.

Pham Thi Doan Trang committed the act of producing, possessing, and circulating documents and articles with content aimed at undermining the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The defendant possessed the following documents: "Summary Report on the Environmental Disaster in Vietnam's Sea"; "General Assessment of the Human Rights Situation in Vietnam"; "Assessment Report on the 2016 Law on Religion and Beliefs Related to the Implementation of Freedom of Religion and Beliefs in Vietnam". From these documents, Pham Thi Doan Trang gave interviews to foreign media outlets containing distorted information about the State's policies and "defamation of the people's government".

Pham Thi Doan Trang at the time of her arrest. (Archival photo)

Trang is also the author of many books that instruct and incite activities aimed at overthrowing the people's government, such as "Popular Politics," "Prisoner's Handbook," "Nonviolent Resistance," etc.

The "sycophancy" of hostile forces

The prison sentence for Pham Thi Doan Trang was inevitable. However, before and after the trial, some individuals and organizations published distorted, defamatory, and slanderous information and arguments against Vietnam.

Using the guise of "human rights" and "democracy," they accuse Vietnam of suppressing "dissidents" and "human rights activists." For example, starting in November 2021, "Luật Khoa magazine," along with "The Vietnamese Magazine" and "The 88 Project," launched a letter-writing campaign to Phạm Thị Đoan Trang, essentially stating that she is a genuine journalist who dares to go against the majority to speak the truth.

Or, at the American PEN (PEN) organization, the Director of the Freedom to Express Oneself at Risk program, Karin Deutsch Karlekar, made the distorted claim that: "The international community has made it clear that the ongoing detention of Pham Thi Doan Trang is unacceptable." Or, as Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the so-called "United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention" fabricated and baseless arguments about the investigation process to call for the "immediate release of Pham Thi Doan Trang."

In reality, the individuals, groups, and organizations spreading these false narratives are all being manipulated by subversive elements. Their goal is to distort the nature of the case, misrepresent the investigation, prosecution, and trial of Pham Thi Doan Trang. Simultaneously, they use the case as a pretext to falsely accuse Vietnam of violating democracy and human rights, suppressing "dissidents," and "human rights activists." From there, they exploit the case to exert pressure, smear, and damage Vietnam's reputation and image internationally, aiming to interfere in our country's internal affairs.

Essentially, Pham Thi Doan Trang is merely a tool for reactionary elements to achieve their goals. Trang connected with and received funding from reactionary elements of VOICE (an offshoot organization of the Viet Tan terrorist group) to carry out subversive activities. They instilled in Pham Thi Doan Trang the idea of ​​a "Free Publishing House." From there, Trang devoted herself to writing and distributing numerous books with malicious content, distorting and slandering the political system, the state of democracy and human rights in Vietnam, the Party's guidelines, and the State's policies and laws. To "reward" Trang's blind opposition, hostile forces funded, supported, and promoted the awarding of the so-called Homo Homini human rights prize and nominated her for the press freedom award.

With the financial benefits and the illusion of becoming a famous writer and activist, Pham Thi Doan Trang has transformed herself into a tool, a robot, to serve reactionary and subversive organizations.

And when Trang was arrested, brought to trial, and received a fitting sentence, the hostile forces revealed their true nature of "squeezing the lemon and discarding the peel." They merely spouted a few lines online, relying on the same old tired slogans about "human rights," "democracy," and "freedom of the press," claiming to "protect" Pham Thi Doan Trang. Afterward, they went searching for other disgruntled individuals and those with dissenting ideologies to continue their subversive activities. Naturally, the name Pham Thi Doan Trang was erased from their database once it was no longer useful. People call this "crocodile tears."

Pham Thi Doan Trang is the author of several books containing content that incites activities aimed at overthrowing the people's government.

On the day of the trial, Pham Thi Doan Trang still displayed stubbornness, delusion, and a lack of sincerity in her testimony; but in the eyes of this female defendant, there was a glimmer of loneliness. For her own benefit, Trang acted against the common good of the nation and people; against the tradition of unity and nation-building of the Vietnamese people.

"Virtuous" is usually used to describe women who possess beauty in their conduct, inner life, and manners. But Pham Thi Doan Trang has acted contrary to the meaning of her name, which also means that along with betraying the Fatherland, Trang is betraying herself.