Six Thai Ha Catholics who are appealing their guilty verdict from a trial in December of last year are confirming to the high court that Le Tran Luat is their attorney of record while he's still under house arrest by the police in Ho Chi Minh city, more than a thousand mile away from his clients as the trial date is just a few days away.
On Mar 23, 2008 five among the defendants had come to court and confirmed with court officials that attorney Le Tran Luat is their chief defense council along with other two while the sixth defendant confirmed she detained only Mr. Luat as her defense council. Another defendant already discussed the representation issue with court personnel the day before, and the eighth defendant could not come due to death in his family.
The adverse situation has been rising since Le Tran Luat decided to represent the Catholics at the up -coming court of appeal which was set for Mar. 27,.2009 in Hanoi.
Luat has alleged that his movement has been severely restricted and constantly monitored by the police. On Mar. 12 while trying to board a flight to Hanoi for trial preparation, Luat was apprehended and detained at the police station for questioning. On Mar 15, he was arrested again and had to keep coming to the so-called "working sessions" by police's order. The ordeal did not end there for him and those who're related to him both personally and professionally. His entire staff has been harassed to this date, his personal equipments seized, his reputation distorted and tarnished by state media, his family as well as Luat himself received threatening phone calls, and his clients have been contacted and coerced to either cancel their contracts with his law firm or given false, distorted information about his personal and professional conducts so that they felt pressured to change their mind about detaining him.
Facing the grave danger of not having Mr. Luat as the most trusted council at the trial they're looking forward to have, all eight Catholic defendants have organized vigil prayers for their lawyer and his associates, they also filed a motion to the court and Police, requesting the release of Mr. Luat so that he can freely make his trip to Hanoi and represent them at the trial.
To this legitimate request, the court refused to grant their motion and the police intensified their harassment toward the dedicated lawyer, causing him extreme emotional and financial hardship.
His legal assistant Ta Phong Tan has just release an appeal to the public, calling the government tactics as "evil" and “gross violation of human rights in Vietnam". She is calling for international media and human rights organizations " to help expose the truth the Vietnamese tyrannical regime is trying to hide", referring to the government's cunning tricks to prevent Thai Ha Catholics to be united with Mr. Luat in forming a powerful defense at the court of appeal on Mar. 27, demanding justice for the innocents.
On Mar 23, 2008 five among the defendants had come to court and confirmed with court officials that attorney Le Tran Luat is their chief defense council along with other two while the sixth defendant confirmed she detained only Mr. Luat as her defense council. Another defendant already discussed the representation issue with court personnel the day before, and the eighth defendant could not come due to death in his family.
The adverse situation has been rising since Le Tran Luat decided to represent the Catholics at the up -coming court of appeal which was set for Mar. 27,.2009 in Hanoi.
Luat has alleged that his movement has been severely restricted and constantly monitored by the police. On Mar. 12 while trying to board a flight to Hanoi for trial preparation, Luat was apprehended and detained at the police station for questioning. On Mar 15, he was arrested again and had to keep coming to the so-called "working sessions" by police's order. The ordeal did not end there for him and those who're related to him both personally and professionally. His entire staff has been harassed to this date, his personal equipments seized, his reputation distorted and tarnished by state media, his family as well as Luat himself received threatening phone calls, and his clients have been contacted and coerced to either cancel their contracts with his law firm or given false, distorted information about his personal and professional conducts so that they felt pressured to change their mind about detaining him.
Facing the grave danger of not having Mr. Luat as the most trusted council at the trial they're looking forward to have, all eight Catholic defendants have organized vigil prayers for their lawyer and his associates, they also filed a motion to the court and Police, requesting the release of Mr. Luat so that he can freely make his trip to Hanoi and represent them at the trial.
To this legitimate request, the court refused to grant their motion and the police intensified their harassment toward the dedicated lawyer, causing him extreme emotional and financial hardship.
His legal assistant Ta Phong Tan has just release an appeal to the public, calling the government tactics as "evil" and “gross violation of human rights in Vietnam". She is calling for international media and human rights organizations " to help expose the truth the Vietnamese tyrannical regime is trying to hide", referring to the government's cunning tricks to prevent Thai Ha Catholics to be united with Mr. Luat in forming a powerful defense at the court of appeal on Mar. 27, demanding justice for the innocents.