The Indictment against blogger Anh Ba Sam

Đoan Trang (Danlambao)

Ghi chú của người dịch: Trong bản dịch, có những chỗ rất lởm khởm, nhưng do người dịch phải cố gắng giữ tinh thần của bản gốc, nên mức độ lởm khởm đã được dịch chính xác, chẳng hạn ở đoạn Viện Kiểm sát tỉ mỉ giải thích về việc "đặt mật khẩu hai lớp cho tài khoản".

Note by the translator: A lot of mistakes and half-witted ideas may be found in this English translation of the indictment against Nguyen Huu Vinh (aka. Anh Ba Sam) and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy. However, it is because the Vietnamese origin was composed in a way that is typical of the communist police idiosyncrasy, and the translator has simply been struggling to maintain this idiosyncrasy in the translation.

The People’s Supreme Procuracy

No.: 05/VKSTC-V2

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Independence – Freedom – Happiness

INDICTMENT

By the Head of the People’s Supreme Procuracy

In pursuant to Article 36, 166 and 167 of the Vietnamese Criminal Procedure Code;

In pursuant to the Decision to institute the criminal case, No. 05/ANDT, dated May 13, 2014, issued by the Investigative Security Body of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) against Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy for “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens” stipulated by Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal Code;].

In pursuant to the Report on investigative results, No. 14/ANDT, dated October 30, 2014, and the supplementary investigative conclusion, No. 03/KLDTBS, dated January 26, 2015, issued by the Investigative Security Body of the MPS;

Based on investigative results,

Herein it is confirmed that:

In 2000, Nguyen Huu Vinh registered to establish and run the V Investigating and Guarding Company (aka. VPI Co.Ltd.), which is based at 5/2/4D Dang Van Ngu street, Trung Tu ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi. From 2003 to 2007, Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy worked as VPI’s accountant. (see Records No. 579, 904, 905).

On September 20, 2013, Nguyen Huu Vinh logged into wordpress.com, signed up and ran the blog diendanxahoidansu.wordpress.com (blog “DÂN QUYỀN”) [Citizens’s Rights, URL diendanxahoidansu means “civil society forum” – note by the translator]. On January 18, 2014, Nguyen Huu Vinh signed up and ran the blog chepsuviet.wordpress.com (blog “CHÉP SỬ VIỆT”) [Writing Vietnam’s history]. Nguyen Huu Vinh set up a two-step verification process for these two blogs, of which blog “DÂN QUYỀN” was administered from the email account chepsuviet@gmail.com and the phone number 0916008619, and blog “CHÉP SỬ VIỆT” was administered from the email account dxhdsd@gmail.com and the phone number 0903404554. When one wants to sign up as the blogs’ administrator, the system will send a text message to these registered phone numbers to provide a password as the second step of verification (a new password will be provided every time one signs up). The purpose of this process is to protect the account of the user and to prevent invalid access from the user’s account (because their account can be stolen by someone figuring out its password or using a spy software, etc.). Therefore, only those who own the above phone numbers can sign into the two blogs. The investigative process has found that the phone numbers 0903404554 and 0916008619 were under the control of Nguyen Huu Vinh (Records No. 232-296, 453-454, 590-591, 657-660, 1028-1029).

After creating the two blogs “DÂN QUYỀN” and “CHÉP SỬ VIỆT”, Nguyen Huu Vinh gave their passwords to Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy and shared with her the authorities to run these blogs, including the authority to compose, edit, remove and publish articles, the authority to review readers’ comments, etc. Every time Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy signed into the two blogs to exercise these authorities at Nguyen Huu Vinh’s command, she must receive the passwords provided by Nguyen Huu Vinh when the system sent the passwords to Nguyen Huu Vinh’s phone for the second step of verification. (Records No. 1399-1403, 1460-1461, 2521-2526, 2543-2553, 2703, 2702-2712).

Apart from directing and talking to Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy via phone, Nguyen Huu Vinh also instructed Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy to edit, publish articles, review and display comments on the two blogs, via emailing correspondence using the mailbox xaoquacha@gmail.com owned by Nguyen Huu Vinh, and daigiagia2007@gmail.com and buinhulac70@gmail.com owned by Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy. (Records No. 711-724, 736-741, 1352-1359, 1368).

During the process of correcting, editing, publishing articles and displaying comments on the two blogs “DÂN QUYỀN” and “CHÉP SỬ VIỆT”, Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy asked Nguyen Thi Thanh Loan (resident at: Zone 2, Thuong Nong village, Tam Nong district, Phu Tho province), Tran Thi Bich Huong (resident at: 3, Ao Dai alley, Duc Thang ward, Bac Tu Liem district, Hanoi) and Nguyen Thi Ly (resident at: Room 110-E1, Thanh Cong living quarter, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi) to collect news from some news-sites, copying or scanning them, then sending them to Nguyen Huu Vinh’s or Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy’s mailbox. In particular:

Since 2013, at Nguyen Huu Vinh’s request, Le Thi Thanh Loan (b. 1990, accountant for VPI Co., Ltd.) accessed the websites of newspapers Thanh Nien, Tien Phong, Dat Viet, etc. to collect news and stories in the areas of politics, culture, education, etc., focusing on topical international and national events such as the situation in Thailand and Ukraine, etc. Then she copied or scanned those articles, or scanned some articles published on the Vietnam News Agency’s printed newspaper, which had been selected by Nguyen Huu Vinh, and corrected misspellings, then sent them to Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy via electronic emailing from her two mailboxes lethanhloan.kt@gmail.com and quacachua1234@gmail.com to the mailbox xaoquacha@gmail.com owned by Nguyen Huu Vinh and buinhulac70@gmail.com owned by Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy. (Records No. 1028-1029, 3308, 3314-3315).

Around early 2014, Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy asked her niece Tran Thi Bich Huong (b. 1995) to sign on her behalf a contract purchasing broadband Internet service from FPT Telecom JSC., whereby the package would be employed by residents at: Room 411-E1, Thanh Cong living quarter, Thanh Cong ward, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi, which is Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy’s residence, and Thuy would use and pay for this service. Since late February 2014, Tran Thi Binh Huong was asked by Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy to collect online news and stories related to domestic and international political issues, especially news with relations to the Southeast Asian Sea, Thailand, Ukraine, Russia, etc., then send them to Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy by using the mailbox bichhuong9895@gmail.com to send electronic mails to Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy’s mailbox of buinhulac70@gmail.com. Because all the news and articles that Tran Thi Bich Huong collected did not meet requirements, as from early April 2014, Tran Thi Bich Huong stopped doing this job. (Records No. 986-998, 3307).

Based on their relationship as neighbors residing in one same living quarter, after being asked for help by Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, from mid-February 2014 to late March 2014, Nguyen Thi Ly (b. 1992) has agreed to scan articles published on the printed version of the Vietnam News Agency, which were selected by Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy. Then she converted them from “images” to “word files”, corrected misspellings, edited them so that these files looked like the original articles on the printed newspaper, and used the mailbox lynguyen3006@gmail.com to send these “word files” to the mailbox buinhulac70@gmail.com owned by Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy and xaoquacha@gmail.com at Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy’s request. (Nguyen Thi Ly did not know whose mailbox they were). From late March to early May 2014, every day Nguyen Thi Ly accessed and copied all the news updates on the two blogs “CHÉP SỬ VIỆT” and “DÂN QUYỀN”, then posted them on the groups of “chép sử việt” and “dân quyền” on Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy’s Facebook page so that many people can follow and read them. (Records No. 1006-1015, 3307-3310).

On May 5, 2014, when conducting urgent searches of the residences of Nguyen Huu Vinh at Room 1508, Building G03, Ciputra, Xuan La ward, Tay Ho district, Hanoi and of Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy at Room 411-E1, Thanh Cong living quarter, Thanh Cong ward, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi, the Investigative Security Body of the MPS found Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy logging into the two blogs “CHÉP SỬ VIỆT” and “DÂN QUYỀN”, which were showing their administration interface, meaning the administrators had logged in successfully. (Records No. 383-386, 398-451, 847-850).

Since being created until Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy were arrested, blog “DÂN QUYỀN” published 2,014 articles and 38,657 comments, and won 3,243,330 page views; blog “CHÉP SỬ VIỆT” published 383 articles and 3,401 comments, and won 480,353 page views. In the investigative process, the Investigative Security Body of the MPS decided to solicit expertise, requesting the Ministry of Information and Communication to examine the contents of these articles. (Records No. 325-328, 1510, 1627-1630, 3266-3269).

On September 19, 2014, the Ministry of Information and Communication issued the expertise conclusion, stating that 24 articles published have untrue and unfounded contents, misrepresenting the Party’s lines and policies and the State’s laws, defaming individuals, expressing an one-sided pessimistic view, causing concern and anxiety, lowering public trust in the leadership of the Party, Government, National Assembly and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In particular,

There are 12 articles on blog “DÂN QUYỀN”:

(1) “Dan chu khong the la cai banh ve” [Democracy must not be an illusion], published on November 24, 2013;

(2) “Tham nhung, chong tham nhung va the che” [Corruption, anti-corruption, and the political system], published on January 17, 2014;

(3) “Chuyen ke nam 2000 – cuon tieu thuyet ve than phan con nguoi trong cai ac cong san” [“A Tale for 2000” – a novel on human life under the evil communist rule], published on March 4, 2014;

(4) “May suy nghi ve nhiem vu, tinh hinh hien nay” [Some personal thoughts on current tasks and situation], published on March 28, 2014;

(5) “Ai thong tri Viet Nam ngay nay: Dang Cong san hay Han Nguy” [Who is now ruling Vietnam, the Vietnamese Communist Party or the Chinese communists?], published on March 31, 2014;

(6) “Di tim cau Nghi o Rach Gia” [Looking for Mr. Nghi in Rach Gia], published on April 3, 2014;

(7) “Nhung su im lang dang khinh” [The contemptible silence], published on April 24, 2014;

(8) “Tam thu tu luc luong dan toc quat khoi” [Impassioned letter from the rebellious national force], published on April 28, 2014;

(9) “Vo trach nhiem va vo liem si” [Irresponsible and shameless], published on April 29, 2014;

(10) “Trai cai tao – Mot dia nguc tran gian o Viet Nam” [Re-education camps – hells on earth], published on April 29, 2014;

(11) “Nhin lai hau qua cua ngay 30-4-1975” [A look back on the consequences of the April 30 event], published on April 29, 2014;

(12) “Ong troi con Hoang Kong Tu vs. BBC Viet ngu” [“Little Emperor” Hoang Kong Tu vs. Vietnamese BBC], published on April 30, 2014.

There are 12 articles on blog “CHÉP SỬ VIỆT”:

(1) “Chinh quyen Ha Noi pha thoi dam gio cua dan toc” [The Hanoi authorities disturbed the great death anniversary of the nation], published on January 19, 2014;

(2) “Thang chat CHXHCN Viet Nam lam sinh nhat cho ong co ‘Viet Nam’ qua heo” [The grandchild of Socialist Republic of Vietnam made a very meager birthday celebration for his grandfather Vietnam], published on January 20, 2014;

(3) “Tong Lu: Suc manh cua nhan dan la bat nguon tu su lanh dao cua Dang” [Loony Party Secretary said people’s power originated from the leading role of the Party], published on January 30, 2014;

(4) “Tuyet voi Ukraine – Mot Viet Nam tuong lai” [Wonderful Ukraine – You’re the future Vietnam], published on February 23, 2014;

(5) “Toa xu Truong Duy Nhat, cac bi hai se lui ve dau?” [While Truong Duy Nhat is on trial, where are his “victims”?], published on February 24, 2014;

(6) “Dang quen moi thu Trung cong tham sat, chi nho toi ac cua My, Han?” [Does the Party forget massacres by communist Chinese and remember only crimes committed by the US. and South Korea?], published on February 27, 2014;

(7) “Ung ho Thu tuong thay doi the che – con me sang mong mi dang thuong” [Supporting the PM in “changing the political system” is a fit of delirium], published on March 1, 2014;

(8) “Pham Van Dong – nguoi hoc tro xuat sac cua Chu tich Ho Chi Minh” [Pham Van Dong – the brilliant student of President Ho Chi Minh], published on March 1, 2014;

(9) “Nut cau Vinh Tuy nay hay nha may dien hat nhan tuong lai – chuyen nho nhu con tho voi giai phap… xit keo” [Vinh Tuy bridge failures today and the nuclear power station tomorrow? Just trivial problems that can be handled with… glue], published on March 10, 2014;

(10) “Khoi cong xay dung mo treo thu hai cho Ho Chi Minh?” [Second “suspension grave” for Ho Chi Minh to be built?], published on March 17, 2014;

(11) “So sanh ban do duong luoi bo cua Nguyen Tan Dung voi ban do ‘xin’ cua Trung Quoc” [Comparison between the nine-dotted line map used by PM Nguyen Tan Dung and the “real” one suggested by China], published on March 18, 2014;

(12) “Lat lai toan bo nganh duong sat Viet Nam, lat them bo mat che do” [Reassessing Vietnamese railway systems and reviewing the whole political system], published on May 1, 2014.

(Records No. 329-350, 1507-1626, 2842-3074, 3118-3139, 3181-3238)

Based on the above-mentioned documents and evidence,

CONCLUSIONS

In September 2013 and January 2014, Nguyen Huu Vinh logged into wordpress.com to sign up and run two blogs, diendanxahoidansu.wordpress.com (blog “DÂN QUYỀN”) and chepsuviet.wordpress.com (blog “CHÉP SỬ VIỆT”). After that, abusing his right to freedom of expression, Nguyen Huu Vinh shared the authorities to run and direct, and, together with Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, published on the two blogs “DÂN QUYỀN” and “CHÉP SỬ VIỆT” 24 articles with untrue and unfounded contents, misrepresenting the Party’s lines and policies and the State’s laws, defaming individuals, expressing an one-sided pessimistic view, causing concern and anxiety, lowering public trust in the leadership of the Party, Government, National Assembly and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The two blogs, “DÂN QUYỀN” and “CHÉP SỬ VIỆT”, had more than 3.7 million page views; of those visitors, many gave negative comments, showing they were affected by the viewpoints expressed in the articles published by those two blogs.

The above-mentioned acts committed by Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy were “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens”; their violation and sanctions are stipulated in Clause 2, Article 258 of the Penal Code.

As for the subjects Le Thi Thanh Loan, Tran Thi Bich Huong and Nguyen Thi Ly, they all conducted some acts of collecting news from some news-sites, then copying, correcting misspellings before sending it via electronic mails to the accused Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy. But their acts originated from their relationship with the accused, and they were taken advantaged of by the accused without knowing the motives and purposes of and the specific acts by the accused Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy. Therefore, there is no basis to identify them as accessories to this crime.

PERSONAL INFORMATION ON THE ACCUSED

1. The accused Nguyen Huu Vinh

- Gender: male

- Date of birth: September 15, 1956 – Place of birth: Hanoi

- Permanent residence registered at: 5/2/4D Dang Van Ngu street, Trung Tu ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi

- Residence: Room 1508, Building G03, Ciputra, Xuan La ward, Tay Ho district, Hanoi

- Nationality: Vietnamese

- Ethnicity: Kinh [Viet]

- Religion: None

- Education: 10/10

- Profession: Director at VPI Investigating and Guarding Co. Ltd.

- Political party: None

- Father: Nguyen Huu Khieu (b. 1915, dead)

- Mother: Hoang Thi At Hoat (b. 1920, dead)

- Wife: Le Thi Minh Ha (b. 1958), retired civil servant. Residence: 5/2/4D Dang Van Ngu street, Trung Tu ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi

- Two sons: the elder was born in 1983, the younger 1991

- In detention since May 5, 2014 until now.

The accused Nguyen Huu Vinh committed his act of criminal offense as the mastermind organizing the crime. During the investigative period, the accused did not admit his and his accomplices’ guilt.

2. The accused Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy

- Gender: female

- Date of birth: November 10, 1980 – Place of birth: Hung Yen

- Residence and permanent residence registered at: Room 411-E1, Thanh Cong living quarter, Thanh Cong ward, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi

- Nationality: Vietnamese

- Ethnicity: Kinh [Viet]

- Religion: None

- Education: 12/12

- Profession: no stable job

- Political party: None

- Father: Nguyen Van That (b. 1950), retired civil servant

- Mother: Nguyen Thi Thuyen (b. 1948), retired civil servant

Both reside at Room 411-E1, Thanh Cong living quarter, Thanh Cong ward, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi

- Husband: Tran Duc Thinh (b. 1980), divorced with her. Residing at Dinh Du village, Van Lam district, Hung Yen

- Two sons: Tran Quang Minh, Tran Trong Duc, both were born in 2007

- Criminal records: N

- In detention since May 5, 2014 until now.

The accused Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy committed her act of criminal offense as an accomplice, actively committing the act of criminal offense under instructions from the accused Nguyen Huu Vinh. During the investigative period, the accused did not admit her and her accomplices’ guilt.

The Penal Code stipulates that:

1. Those who abuse the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of belief, religion, assembly, association and other democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens, shall be subject to warning, non-custodial reform for up to three years or a prison term of between six months and three years.

2. Committing the offense in serious circumstances, the offenders shall be sentenced to between two and seven years of imprisonment.

For the above reasons,

DECISION

1. To prosecute before the Hanoi People’s Court the accused Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, whose personal information is stated above, 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 Clause 2, Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal Code.

2. To delegate the Hanoi People’s Supreme Procuracy to exercise the right to prosecute and supervise the first-instance trial for the case.

Attached with this indictment are…. records, numbered from 01 to……/.

Recipients

- The Hanoi People’s Court

- The Hanoi People’s Supreme Procuracy

- The Investigative Security Body of the MPS

- The dossier on the case

- The investigative reports

- The accused (02 copies)

- For archive: P1 (Department 2)

As delegated by the Head of the Procuracy

Prosecutor – Head (*)