Phu Yen: 22 Vietnamese activists on trial for subversion
Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Some 22 members of a small environmentalist group made up of religious believers operating in southern and central Vietnam have been charged with subversion and trying to overthrow the Communist government of Vietnam. The accused went on trial yesterday in Phu Yen province and could get the death penalty. The court proceedings are expected to last five days before a sentence is issued and represent one of the most important cases in the Asian nation in terms of number of people involved.
The group, known as the Hoi Dong Cong Luat Cong An Bia Son or Council for the Laws and Public Affairs of Bia Son (a local mountain), are charged with violating Article 79 of the Vietnam Penal Code, which has often been used to crack down on dissenters and silence the pro-democracy opposition, activists and legal experts say.
If found guilty, the accused could get the death penalty, but so far the authorities have never executed people for political activities against the state.
Little is known about the group, except that it is involved in environmental protection and that it is led by a 65-year-old man, Phan Van Thu, described as a "terrorist" by the authorities.
When the accused were arrested in February of last year, state media said they were involved in an attempt to create a subversive organisation under the guise of an environmental campaign. Some 300 people are thought to belong to the group, mostly in the south-central part of the country.
Speaking to Radio Free Asia (RFA), the group leader's wife Vo Thi Thuy said that the members of the group were "religious" and sought to protect the environment "to provide a good place for people to vacation or for anybody who are looking for a peaceful place for their spirit".
The families of the accused have not sought any legal representation because they are convinced that their relatives can defend themselves and show that what they were doing was within the limits of the law.
However, the authorities routinely put people on trial and convict them on "subversion" charges or other anti-revolutionary activities. The practice is regularly used against dissidents or religious believers.
Just a few weeks ago, a People's Court in Nghe An Province (central Vietnam) sentenced 14 Catholics for subversion of the state. They too could have received the death penalty. Instead, three of the accused, Hồ Đức Hòa, Đặng Xuân Diệu, and Lê Văn Sơn, were given 13 years in prison. The other 11 received sentences ranging from three to eight years.
The 14 Catholics had been accused of belonging to a group called Viet Tan, a non-violent movement that supports democracy, deemed "terrorist" by the authorities.
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