Diệu Quyên (Danlambao) - For the many people who have been fighting for and supporting the democratic movement in Viet Nam, today was a highly charged day indeed. Today, the 16th August 2013, the so called People's Court of Long An held the trial of two young students Nguyen Phuong Uyen and Dinh Nguyen Kha. Previously they were both charged with distributing the yellow flag of the old regime and leaflets bearing anti China, anti government slogans, with 6 years in prison for Phuong Uyen and 8 years for Nguyen Kha.
For days, the families and friends of the two young patriots were trying hard to visit them prior to the trial. They were met with much difficulties from the prison officials. The mother of Nguyen Kha, Mrs Kim Lien, was not allowed to see her son, which caused her consirable distress. Only the solicitors were allowed to have a quick few words, who assured that despite a lot of pressure and threats and even beatings from prison guards, the two youngsters remained calm and with good spirits.
Today, from early in the morning, hundreds of police and police vans were moved to the front of the Court. As the supporters arrived, they were blocked off , chased away and threatened. Despite this being supposedly an open trial, no one was even allowed near the Court, let alone inside. A few bloggers holding banners which said “Phuong Uyen and Nguyen Kha are innocent “were chased after and arrested, their banners taken away and torn. When a few people, including a mother and her young toddler, were put in one of those police vans to be carted away, the remained all lied down in front of the vans to block the road. They also held hands and walked around chanting “Freedom for Uyen and Kha”, “Uyen and Kha are innocent”. It was total chaos right at the front gate of the Court.
Even the mothers of Uyen and Kha, Mrs Nhung and Mrs Kim Lien, were not allowed inside the Court. Mrs Nhung stood outside the closed front gate, leaned her head against the metal rails and sobbed uncontrollably. The Communist flag, bloodly red with the people' s blood, flew silently above her. It was a picture that went viral on Facebook and caused a lot of anger amongst those concerned.
While the families and the supporters were holding their vigile outside the Court, thousands more, myself included, from all over the world were sitting glued to their computers, following each bit of news which managed to get past the police blockage. Every tiny bits of information were quickly shared around on the Net, from Facebook to Paltalk to Yahoo Messengers... Emotions were running sky high. At the end of the day, when the final decision was delivered: Nguyen Phuong Uyen's sentence reduced from 6 years to 3 years probation, Dinh Nguyen Kha ' s sentence reduced from 8 years to 4 years in prison, one could almost hear the screams of victory from the words that went flying across the computer screen.
Indeed, this is the very first victory for those fighting for democracy for Viet Nam. This is the first time someone went to Court with such charges walk out without a prison term. Although this is only a small victory, it is still significant enough to give the people hope. There is light at the end of the tunnel finally. Those more cautious reminded us that there were still hundreds of dissidents and prisoners of conscience behind bars, infact Nguyen Kha is still imprisoned, so that one can not let one's guard down but to continue to fight even more fiercely to free the remained.
The truth is though, most people are fully aware that this does not yet signify any good intention from the Communist Government. People still remember very clearly that not so long ago, Viet Nam President Mr Truong Tan Sang had a meeting with Mr Obama, the President of the United States, and human rights issues were seriously discussed. It was obvious that for the US to grant Viet Nam any significant benefit, the Vietnamese Communist Party would have to reduce its violations of human rights.
Viet Nam has been desperate to join the TPP (Trans Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership) to save its failing economy and has been bidding for a membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council for years. It is obvious to those who have been watching, that Viet Nam would have to back down quite seriously on its policy against peaceful dissidents to be accepted into either one or both of the organisations. It looks like the first step the Communist Vietnamese Government decided to take in this direction is to release Phuong Uyen, a female and also the youngest of those ever arrested and charged.
In the forseeable future, those advocating for democracy for Viet Nam stil have a hard battle to wage. Much pressure from inside and outside the country is still needed, with a lot of support from various human rights organisation, to be able to force the Vietnamese authority to slowly release the remaining political prisoners.
Still, for now, victory is sweet, and many are celebrating!
