Feeling they have been unjustly imposed with a sentence they didn't deserve, all eight Catholic defendants of Thai Ha have appealed their case to the Appellate court of Hanoi which on Jan 8, 2009 agreed to hear their case (file number 50/HSPT dated 1/8/2009) and the new date for the hearing will be set within two months from the time the Appellate Court has accepted their file.
The appeal was brought up as a result of an unjust guilty verdict given to all eight Thai Ha parishioners for their roles in what the prosecution described as "disorderly conduct" and” damaging state's property" by the Ba Dinh People's Court without allowing any logical evidence from the defense team to surface in court. The verdict was followed by a surprisingly light sentences ranging from 12 -17 month stayed prison terms, not to include one administrative warning. The defendants, however, wouldn't view it as an unprecedented leniency -thank to the publicity gaining from worldwide coverage of the trial - They simply wanted the truth and exoneration for their alleged crime. The court of appeal therefore would be the next and final step for them to accomplish that goal.
Another factor which contributed to the decision of bringing the case all the way to the Appellate court of Hanoi was the unethical coverage of the state -media during and after the trial. According to the defendants and witnesses, all eight defendants had pleaded not guilty in the open court. The state media, namely New Hanoi News and Vietnam Television 1 on the contrary had knowingly and deliberately reported them as "all defendants had admitted their guilt, acknowledging that they had done wrongful things in violation of the law". To this malpractice there have been two law suits pending on both News outlets in order for the whole world to see how unethical and incredible Vietnam state-media truly are!
Redemptorist spokesperson, Fr. Nguyen Van Khai, had told VietCatholic News the Appeal has been filed with the Dong Da People's court since Dec23,2008 which then forwarded the case to the Hanoi People's Court, but their appeal was not even considered by Hanoi's People Court until Jan 8, 2009 when Le Tran Luat, the defense attorney for the respondents came to obtain a certificate of representation and made known to the court of how serious the defendants' intention was in pursuing their rights to be tried with due process.
The appeal was brought up as a result of an unjust guilty verdict given to all eight Thai Ha parishioners for their roles in what the prosecution described as "disorderly conduct" and” damaging state's property" by the Ba Dinh People's Court without allowing any logical evidence from the defense team to surface in court. The verdict was followed by a surprisingly light sentences ranging from 12 -17 month stayed prison terms, not to include one administrative warning. The defendants, however, wouldn't view it as an unprecedented leniency -thank to the publicity gaining from worldwide coverage of the trial - They simply wanted the truth and exoneration for their alleged crime. The court of appeal therefore would be the next and final step for them to accomplish that goal.
Another factor which contributed to the decision of bringing the case all the way to the Appellate court of Hanoi was the unethical coverage of the state -media during and after the trial. According to the defendants and witnesses, all eight defendants had pleaded not guilty in the open court. The state media, namely New Hanoi News and Vietnam Television 1 on the contrary had knowingly and deliberately reported them as "all defendants had admitted their guilt, acknowledging that they had done wrongful things in violation of the law". To this malpractice there have been two law suits pending on both News outlets in order for the whole world to see how unethical and incredible Vietnam state-media truly are!
Redemptorist spokesperson, Fr. Nguyen Van Khai, had told VietCatholic News the Appeal has been filed with the Dong Da People's court since Dec23,2008 which then forwarded the case to the Hanoi People's Court, but their appeal was not even considered by Hanoi's People Court until Jan 8, 2009 when Le Tran Luat, the defense attorney for the respondents came to obtain a certificate of representation and made known to the court of how serious the defendants' intention was in pursuing their rights to be tried with due process.