Translated by Doan Trang - Below is the investigation conclusion report by the Long An Police in the case of Đinh Nhật Uy (Dinh Nhat Uy).
Uy, 30 years old, was arrested on June 12, 2013, and charged with “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens” under Article 258 of the Penal Code of Vietnam.
Uy is the elder brother of Đinh Nguyên Kha (Dinh Nguyen Kha), 25 years old, who has already been in jail after his arrest in October 2012 and charged with “propagating against the State” under Article 88 of the Penal Code. In the trial court on May 16, 2013, Kha was given an eight-year sentence of imprisonment. The sentence would be reduced to four years of imprisonment in the appeal court on August 16, 2013.
On September 6, 2013, Uy and Kha’s mother, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Kim Lien, published this investigation conclusion report on her facebook page in a desperate effort to save her sons. The next day, she published a letter crying for help. She said by arresting innocent Dinh Nhat Uy, the police want to coerce Dinh Nguyen Kha into admitting terrorism, a crime he has not committed and for which there is no credible evidence.
So far, Dinh Nhat Uy is the most recent case of being charged under Article 258.
Translator: Pham Doan Trang
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THE LONG AN POLICE
PUBLIC SECURITY INVESTIGATION OFFICE
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Code number: 03/ANĐT
THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
Independence - Freedom - Happiness
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Long An, August 27, 2013
INVESTIGATION CONCLUSION REPORT
Case: Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens, Tan An city. Opened on June 12, 2013
Pursuant to Decision No. 02 to institute the criminal case No. 02; Decision No. 02 to initiate criminal proceedings against the accused; Arrest warrant No. 01 released on June 12, 2013 by Long An public security office against Dinh Nhat Uy, who is guilty of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens.”
Upon completion of the investigation:
CASE DESCRIPTION
As from November 21, 2012 until June 15, 2013, the accused used his Internet-connected computer to create 58 posts on his personal facebook page, named “Đinh Nhật Uy (Long An)”, at https://www.facebook.com/dinhnhatuy?fref=ts. The contents of these posts infringed upon government offices, organizations and citizens to different degrees. In particular:
- The post created on December 18, 2012 criticized the investigators for “having ignored” the rights of the accused’s family when taking investigation. The post created on May 17, 2013 wrote that the judiciary body is “a submissive and deceiful system.” The post created on May 18, 2013 wrote, “Why don’t you [the judiciary body - note by the translator] ask what crime the authorities committed when they put two young people on trial?”
- The post created on March 2, 2013 insulted the Vietnam Military Telecommunications Group (Vietel) and the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT).
- The post created on December 19, 2013 [it must be 2012 – note by the translator] criticized leaders of the State in governing the country. In this post, the accused quoted a talk between two communist officers commenting on leaders’ capacity to govern country with insulting words, but he failed to prove the truth of this talk.
- The post created on December 21, 2012 insulted a communist officer involved in the activities of the local women association in the accused’s residence.
- Other posts lauded anti-State individuals that were arrested and punished by the authorities, including:
· Cover photo posted on 14 and 23 May, 2013 called on people to follow the trial of Dinh Nguyen Kha and Nguyen Phuong Uyen, calling for the release of KHA and UYÊN.
· Cover photo posted on December 24, 2012 sent a message to Kha and Uyên, “Be brave, my dears.” Cover photo posted on December 26, 2012 and February 1, 2013, depicted Kha and Uyen with the pictures of some other inviduals including Ta Phong Tan, Dieu Cay, Vo Minh Tri, Tran Vu Anh Binh, etc. These are Vietnamese law-breakers that were arrested and punished by the authorities. Cover photos of the accused’s facebook page tended to advocate these individuals’ violations of laws.
- The post created on January 22, 2013 reported on the activities of the group “Patriotic Youth” who distributed pamphlets in the area of Long An province. Although he was aware that “Patriotic Youth” is an anti-state organization, the accused deliberately reported on this group’s distribution of pamphlets.
- Other posts satirized, criticized and ran counter to our Government’s grand policy of amending the 1992 Constitution and foreign policy toward China, in particular:
· On February 28, 2013, the accused updated his facebook avatar as a photo depicting number 4 inside a crossed circle, noted “Abolish Article 4 of the Constitution” [Article 4 of the Vietnamese Constitution stipulates that the Communist Party is the force assuming leadership of the State and society - note by the translator].
· On January 24, 2013, the accused posted a photo satirizing the contribution of opinions to the Constitutional amendment, alleging that there were citizens who paid no attention as Constitutional amendment was only the business of the State.
The accused’s posts attracted many facebook users who read and gave comments critical of the regime, distorted some of the State’s grand policies, insulted such government agencies as the investigation body and the court, insulted and defamed public security forces.
Most of these comments were given by facebook users connected to the accused, some of whom gave many comments. As pointed out by the Long An Department of Information and Communication in Document No. 03/STTTT-TTr dated May 21, 2013, the accused’s page did not restrict readership or comments by his friends and other users that he shared contents with.
According to the examiners at the Long An Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism in the report dated July 18, 2013, some posts and comments on the accused’s personal facebook satirized and defamed some agencies and organizations such as the Vietnamese People’s Police, Vietel, VNPT, and lowered the prestige of some concerned individuals.
After accessing to information on the Internet, the accused shared some articles and images posted on other websites, blogs and facebook pages such as www.voatiengviet.com, www.danoanbuihang.blogspot.com, and www.facebook.com/toai2. He posted guidance on how to get connected to the facebook page named “The Association of Lovers of Nguyen Phuong Uyen and Dinh Nguyen Kha” to gain information. According to the examiners at the Long An Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism in the report dated July 25, 2013, some articles posted on these pages affected social order, distorted the social and political situation in Vietnam, spoke ill of the regime, insulted the Vietnamese People’s Police and the court judging Dinh Nguyen Kha and Nguyen Phuong Uyen.
In addition to his personal facebook page, the accused gave three interviews to foreign media agencies, which were later on published on www. rfa. org, www. voatiengviet. com and www. radiochantroimoi. com. In the interview given on May 16, 2013 using a Nokia N93i phone, the accused reported the trial of Dinh Nguyen Kha and Nguyen Phuong Uyen at the Long An People’s Court. He criticized the sentences that the Procuracy gave to Kha and Uyen, saying these sentences were “very unreasonable and offensive to the youths, especially to the two patriot students Dinh Nguyen Kha and Nguyen Phuong Uyen,” “the Procuracy accepted wrongdoings in legal proceedings, they complied with the instrutions from above; in general, they just spoke whatever imposed on them by their superiors…”
According to the examiners at the Long An Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism in the report dated July 25, 2013, this interview demonstrated the accused’s support and praise of “the patriotism” of Dinh Nguyen Kha and Nguyen Phuong Uyen, and his depreciation of the trial court against Dinh Nguyen Kha and Nguyen Phuong Uyen in Long An.
After the accused was arrested, his facebook, “Dinh Nhat Uy (Long An)”, was renamed as “Friends of Dinh Nhat Uy.” The investigating body ordered him to provide the password of his facebook page, but failed to log in. The accused said he had given the password to some of his facebook friends, but so far there has not been any evidence on this confession. The investigating body will work more on this.
PROOFS OBTAINED
- 01 (one) mobile phone brand NOKIA N93i, black cover.
- 01 (one) computer, black cover.
- 01 (one) A4-sized paper depicting Nguyen Phuong Uyen’s portrait picture and a printed line, “Freedom for Nguyễn Phương Uyên.”
- 01 (one) A4-sized paper depicting Dinh Nguyen Kha’s portrait picture and a printed line, “Freedom for Dinh Nguyen Kha.”
- 01 (one) book titled “BÊN THẮNG CUỘC” [The Winning Side – note by the translator] by Huy Duc, and 01 (one) book titled “CHẾT BỞI TRUNG QUỐC” [Death by China, by Peter Navarro và Greg Autry – note by the translator], translated by Tran Dieu Chan. As examined by relevant authorities, these two books violated the Law on Publishing, thus the distributor must be punished and the two books must be strictly confiscated.
- 06 (six) T-shirts with the line “Hoàng Sa - Trường Sa - Việt Nam” [Paracels - Spratlys - Vietnam - note by the translator].
- 02 (two) T-shirts with the line “NO TO U-LINE!; YES TO UNCLOS!” on the front [U-line is the Chinese nine-dotted line or ox-tongue line, UNCLOS stands for United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea – note by the translator]; and the line “NO-U FC; XOÁ “ĐƯỜNG LƯỠI BÒ” BẢO VỆ BIỂN ĐẢO VIỆT NAM” on the back [NO-U FC; abolish “the ox-tongue line”, defend Vietnam’s islands and seas. No-U FC means No-U Football Club, an underground group objecting to China’s nine-dotted line – note by the translator].
- 01 (one) student notebook with a report on how the Court’s officers received and dealt with lawsuits. This report is related to the article by the accused, posted on his personal facebook page.
- Some other belongings and documents unrelated to the case. The investigating body has returned these to the accused’s family.
PROFILE OF THE ACCUSED
- Full name: Dinh Nhat Uy
- Birthday: June 8, 1983
- Address: number 584 Highway 62, ward 6, Tân An city, Long An province
- Occupation: Director of AT Ltd. Company
- Family members:
· Father: Dinh Van Chuon
o Birthyear: 1956
o Occupation: electrician
o Address: number 584 Highway 62, ward 6, Tân An city, Long An province
o Residence: ward 4, My Phu, Thu Thua, Long An
· Mother: Nguyen Thi Kim Lien
o Birthyear: 1961
o Occupation: housewife
o Address: number 584 Highway 62, ward 6, Tân An city, Long An province
o Residence: ward 4, My Phu, Thu Thua, Long An
· Siblings: Two sisters, the elder born in 1979, the younger born in 1988
- Activism background:
+ From 1995 to 2001: lived with parents and studied at Thong Nhat elementary school, Lê Quí Đôn high school, based in Tân An city, Long An province.
+ From 2001 to 2007: studied at the University of Transportation, the University of Natural Sciences, the Saigon Technology College, the semi-public Ton Duc Thang University, based in Ho Chi Minh City.
+ From 2007 to 2009: teaching at the Viet-Korea Center of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education.
+ From 2009 to 2013: director of the AT Ltd. Company, address: number 584, Highway 62, ward 6, Tân An city, Long An province. In December 2012: studied business administration at the Long An University of Economics and Industry, school year 2012-2016.
+ June 12, 2013: arrested by the investigation office of the Long An Police, who issued the decision to initiate criminal proceedings against and the arrest warrant for contemporary detention of the accused as of June 15, 2013.
CONCLUSION ON THE CASE
JUDGEMENTS
- The case is categorized as “crime of infringing upon administrative management order” stipulated in Article 258 of the Penal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
- The accused used his personal facebook page to publish contents criticizing and satirizing the judiciary body, Vietel and VNPT. The contents he published even decried and insulted some individuals, including political leaders of the State. These contents directly affected the prestige and operation of the State, organizations and citizens. All the contents posted were set public so that any facebook user was able to read them. According to the examiners, every post created by the accused attracted hundreds of comments and shares by facebook users.
- The accused kept on his personal facebook page comments ill speaking of the government, defaming and insulting the judiciary body, organizations and citizens within a long time. The accused was aware of the offensiveness of these comments and gave a warning, but he did not remove those comments. One utility of Facebook is that it allowed the accused’s posts to be automatically sent to his facebook friends whose number amounted to 300 or 400 as he confessed. In addition, because the accused set his facebook page public, any facebook user could read and comment on his posts.
- The accused deliberately shared the links to some websites, blogs and facebook pages. When users enter these links, they will be led to websites, blogs and facebook pages that provide anti-state contents advocating law violations.
According to the examiners at the Long An Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism in the report dated July 25, 2013, the posts by the accused Dinh Nhat Uy on his personal facebook page and the links he shared were harmful to social order and badly affected the prestige of the Vietnamese People’s Police and other related organizations and individuals.
Giving interviews is the demonstration of freedom of speech, but with his answers, the accused provided information, with insulting language, on the activities of the judiciary body even during the process of handling the case. Published on the Internet, the interviews could easily cause misunderstanding about the strictness of Vietnamese laws and affect the prestige of the Long An’s judiciary agencies.
- The reason that led to Dinh Nhat Uy’ violations of laws was his dissatisfaction with the impacts caused by Dinh Nguyen Kha’s violations of laws on their family and company. The accused therefore used his personal facebook page to publish and provide information via interviews in order to criticize the State, organizations and citizens. The accused said he violated the laws not to act against the Vietnamese State.
- The accused’s acts committed the crime of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens” as stipulated in Article 258 of the Penal Code
- The accused was cooperative in his confessions.
REQUESTS
- Prosecuting the accused Dinh Nhat Uy for “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens” as stipulated in Article 258 of the Penal Code.
- Confiscating the case’s proofs, including 01 (one) mobile phone brand NOKIA N93i, black cover and 01 (one) computer, black cover.
- Confiscating and destroying the two books, “BÊN THẮNG CUỘC” [The Winning Side – note by the translator] and “CHẾT BỞI TRUNG QUỐC” [Death by China – note by the translator].
- Passing on to the Long An People’s Procuracy for their consideration and handling:
· 01 (one) A4-sized paper depicting Nguyen Phuong Uyen’s portrait picture and a printed line, “Freedom for Nguyễn Phương Uyên.”
· 01 (one) A4-sized paper depicting Dinh Nguyen Kha’s portrait picture and a printed line, “Freedom for Dinh Nguyen Kha.”
· 06 (six) T-shirts with the line “Hoàng Sa - Trường Sa - Việt Nam” [Paracels - Spratlys - Vietnam – note by the translator]
· 02 (two) T-shirts with the line “NO TO U-LINE!; YES TO UNCLOS!” on the front and “NO-U FC; XOÁ “ĐƯỜNG LƯỠI BÒ” BẢO VỆ BIỂN ĐẢO VIỆT NAM” on the back.
Pursuant to Article 162 and 163 of the Criminal Procedure Code:
DECISIONS:
- To pass the case on to the Long An People’s Procuracy for the prosecution of the accused Dinh Nhat Uy for the above-mentioned crime under the above-mentioned law.
- Attached with the investigation conclusion report are documents in the case, including 452 sheets numbered from 01 to 452 and statements as required by Section 2, Article 163 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Recipients:
- The Long An People’s Procuracy
- A92 (in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City)
- Head of the Province Police;
- Deputy Head and Head of the investigating body;
- The accused;
- For archieve: PA92
HEAD OF THE INVESTIGATING BODY
Colonel Nguyễn Sáu
