When the police barged in on the class, there were about 14 students - most of them are young people in the classroom. A uniformed policeman then announced that there is a complaint against Mr. Pham Minh Hoang and the students because they "have illegally gathered with the purpose of making propaganda against the state".
Right after the police force class stormed into the class, some of the students tried to videotape the incident and got beaten violently by the police.
A recorded video from the scene shows Mr. Pham Minh Hoang and the students were being held in a room and were not allowed to go outside for lunch. The police then accused Mr. Pham Minh Hoang of being a member of Viet Tan Party (an overseas political party recognized by the United States) and requested Mr. Pham Minh Hoang to go out outside to talk with the police.
Moments later, all students were forced to go to a police headquarter for questioning. But the police kept Mr. Pham Minh Hoang at the coffee shop Café BB; currently Mr. Pham Minh Hoang is being harassed by the police.
At this time, names of the students who got arrested are: Nguyễn Mạnh Hiền, Đỗ Trang, Nguyễn Việt, Phan Sơn, Long, Thảo, Vũ, Vỹ, Hải...
Furthermore, a woman named Thu Nguyệt also got arrested because she protested the illegal arrest of the students.
Mr. Phạm Minh Hoàng
In talking with Danlambao correspondent, Mrs. Lê Thị Kiều Oanh, wife of Mr. Phạm Minh Hoàng expressed outrage about the behavior of the repressive communist authorities towards her husband and the students.
Mrs. Lê Thị Kiều Oanh said: "My husband is simply exchanging and sharing life skills with the young people and the police were behaving like this. I strongly protest such behavior by the police."
Mrs. Lê Thị Kiều Oanh also said: "They (i.e. the police) have violated my husband's rights when they took his computer apart."
Mrs. Oanh also stated that the police's use of violence against young people is not only a violation of human rights but also violates the law.
Mr. Phạm Minh Hoàng was a former university lecturer, who has dual France-Vietnam citizenship and is an activist for democracy. Mr. Phạm Minh Hoàng got arrested in 2011 and was charged with violating Penal Code 79 ("Involving in activities with purpose of overthrowing the government").
Mr. Phạm Minh Hoàng was sentenced to three years in prison and 3 years of house arrest at the hearing on August 10, 2011, in Sài Gòn. But at the appeals hearing on December 29, 2011, the sentence was reduced to 17 months in prison and 3 years of house arrest.
Mr. Phạm Minh Hoàng got out of prison on January 13, 2012. He has continued to push for democracy for Vietnam since getting out of prison.
