American citizen sentenced to 12 years in prison for activities aimed at overthrowing the government

On June 24, Ho Chi Minh City People's Court sentenced Nguyen Michael Phuong Minh (55 years old, American nationality) to 12 years in prison for the crime ofActivities aimed at overthrowing the people's governmentAfter serving the sentence, the defendant must leave Vietnam.

Huynh Duc Thanh Binh (23 years old, student at the University of Economics and Finance, Ho Chi Minh City) received 10 years in prison; Tran Long Phi (21 years old) received 8 years in prison for the same crime. The two defendants were also placed under 3 years of local probation after serving their sentences.

In connection with the case, Huynh Duc Thinh (Binh's father) received 1 year in prison for the crime.Failure to report crime.

Some people believed to be leaders, including Le Quoc Phong, Nguyen Van Be Hai... are on the run or living abroad, so authorities have not yet dealt with them.

Defendant Huynh Duc Thanh Binh. Photo:Huu Khoa

According to the indictment, Phong, Nguyen Michael and Binh had discontented thoughts; colluded with accomplices and some people abroad to inform about the political and social situation in Vietnam. In August 2017, Nguyen Michael returned to Vietnam to establish relationships and learn about issues of public concern. He was brought by Binh to meet Le Quoc Phong.

Investigators allege that this group established an organization.Domestic uprising,discuss and assign tasks to members: organize propaganda, finance, plan to buy weapons, attract many people to participate in protests, occupy government headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The group's purpose is to cause riots to overthrow the Vietnamese government, and eliminate the leadership role of the Communist Party.

In which, Phong established a "special action, secret assassination" group; drafted documentsFatherland is above all, planProtests combined with traffic jams, versionDeclaration of the National Uprisingthen consulted the remaining accomplices. Phong, on behalf of the group, received 2,000 USD from Nguyen Michael and 300 Australian dollars from Nguyen Van Be Hai (living in Australia) as funding to buy weapons.

On the evening of June 30, 2018, Nguyen Michael, Phi, Long, and Binh met at Mr. Thinh's house in Dong Nai to discuss. Binh, Phi, and Long were assigned to prepare petrol bombs and slingshots to attack police forces and government offices; and distribute leaflets to many people.

The defendants called on many people to participate, threatening to set off explosions in wards and neighborhoods to cause panic. In addition, Long and Phi were responsible for finding out the price of weapons in Thailand and preparing food for use during their time in hiding.

On July 3, 2018, Nguyen Michael and his accomplices went to Khanh Hoa and Hue to attract some people to participate in the protest. Four days later, when the group returned to Ho Chi Minh City, they were invited by the police for questioning. Mr. Thinh knew that his son and his accomplices were discussing and carrying out a plan to sabotage the Vietnamese government but did not report it.

Defendant Tran Long Phi. Photo:Huu Khoa

According to the prosecution, the defendants' actions are especially serious, endangering society and infringing on the strong existence of the people's government and the State of Vietnam, so they need to be severely punished as a deterrent.

At court today, the defendants all admitted to the actions as charged, and were not wrongly convicted. Nguyen Michael said that the reason for committing the crime was limited understanding of Vietnamese law and frequent exposure to inaccurate information on social networks. The defendant asked the court to consider reducing his sentence.