After his office has been shutdown, and his license cancelled, the lawyer who defended eight Catholic defendants of Thai Ha parish at the infamous trial last December has now been subject to much more severe punishments in the form of summoning orders, threats aimed directly at his family and himself, long hour interrogations, and property confiscations.
In a tactic obviously designed to punish and deter Vietnamese lawyers from providing legal assistance to Catholics at Thai Ha, on April 29, police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested lawyer Le Tran Luat, the chief defense counsel of the eight Catholic defendants of Thai Ha parish in a trial on Dec. 8 last year in which they were charged of “damaging state properties and disturbing public orders”.
During and after the trial on Dec. 8, all eight Catholic defendants have maintained all along they were not guilty despite false reports by state media that "they bowed their heads regretfully and admitted to their guilt”. They sued some state-owned media outlets for falsely reporting on their trial, and appealed to a higher court against unjust verdicts.
Luat has been repeatedly harassed by police after his decision to represent the Catholics at the court of appeal on Mar. 27 of this year in Hanoi.
The level of harassment has become more severe just before the appellate court hearing on March 27 with allegation that he (Luat) understood incorrectly the state policies and guidelines promulgated by the government of Socialist Republic of Vietnam. They then asked him to modify or correct his published arguments and admit that his answers he gave in previous interviews were shallow and hotheaded. His refusal to comply with government's coercion has resulted in series of harsh treatments and eventually his house arrest as report just came in today.
His movement since 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 were 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.
His arrest on April 29 was followed a long smear campaign against him by state-run media. Luat was reportedly released yesterday after a 17 hour police interrogation. Ms. Ta Phong Tan, his assistant, shared the same fate.
While the lawyer was being interrogated at the police headquarter, his house was raided from 6 PM - pass midnight Aril 30. Documents relating to Lake Ba Giang, the plot of land which is still in dispute between Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery and the local government of Dong Da district were confiscated. Earlier this month, the superior of the Redemptorist community, Father Matthew Vu Khoi Phung, protested a new governmental construction project on the land. The community has been searching for lawyers to settle the issue with due process.
Along with Ba Giang documents, the police confiscated 3 desk-top- and 1 lap-top computers, 1 mobile (cellular) phone, and legal documents related to his clients Pham Thanh Nghien case (a dissident/defendant who belongs to 8406 bloc), Pham Ba Hai (another dissident who belongs to Bach Dang Giang group), Truong Minh Duc (other dissident who is member of Vi Dan party), and other documents relating to 8406 bloc, victims of government illegal land requisition, memorabilia presented to him by a famed dissident, Prof. Tran Khue, a collection of poems from Bui Chat, and his proposal for establishing a website and a forum for lawyers.
His legal assistant Ta Phong Tan has released appeals 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".
Recently state-owned media have been viciously attacked two Redemptorist priests, who openly oppose the government bauxite mining plan in Central Highlands, calling for “immediate and severe punishment” against them. The accusations leveled against the two priests, labeling their actions as major crime of "plotting to overthrow communist regime" - an offense which can result in capital punishment if convicted, were so severe that many have been convinced that Vietnam government has been preparing public opinions for an arrest and persecution on the two priests. The calculated, malicious plot against lawyer Le Tran Luat has raised great concern among Catholics on legal support in case their priests are arrested.
In a tactic obviously designed to punish and deter Vietnamese lawyers from providing legal assistance to Catholics at Thai Ha, on April 29, police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested lawyer Le Tran Luat, the chief defense counsel of the eight Catholic defendants of Thai Ha parish in a trial on Dec. 8 last year in which they were charged of “damaging state properties and disturbing public orders”.
During and after the trial on Dec. 8, all eight Catholic defendants have maintained all along they were not guilty despite false reports by state media that "they bowed their heads regretfully and admitted to their guilt”. They sued some state-owned media outlets for falsely reporting on their trial, and appealed to a higher court against unjust verdicts.
Luat has been repeatedly harassed by police after his decision to represent the Catholics at the court of appeal on Mar. 27 of this year in Hanoi.
The level of harassment has become more severe just before the appellate court hearing on March 27 with allegation that he (Luat) understood incorrectly the state policies and guidelines promulgated by the government of Socialist Republic of Vietnam. They then asked him to modify or correct his published arguments and admit that his answers he gave in previous interviews were shallow and hotheaded. His refusal to comply with government's coercion has resulted in series of harsh treatments and eventually his house arrest as report just came in today.
His movement since 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 were 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.
His arrest on April 29 was followed a long smear campaign against him by state-run media. Luat was reportedly released yesterday after a 17 hour police interrogation. Ms. Ta Phong Tan, his assistant, shared the same fate.
While the lawyer was being interrogated at the police headquarter, his house was raided from 6 PM - pass midnight Aril 30. Documents relating to Lake Ba Giang, the plot of land which is still in dispute between Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery and the local government of Dong Da district were confiscated. Earlier this month, the superior of the Redemptorist community, Father Matthew Vu Khoi Phung, protested a new governmental construction project on the land. The community has been searching for lawyers to settle the issue with due process.
Along with Ba Giang documents, the police confiscated 3 desk-top- and 1 lap-top computers, 1 mobile (cellular) phone, and legal documents related to his clients Pham Thanh Nghien case (a dissident/defendant who belongs to 8406 bloc), Pham Ba Hai (another dissident who belongs to Bach Dang Giang group), Truong Minh Duc (other dissident who is member of Vi Dan party), and other documents relating to 8406 bloc, victims of government illegal land requisition, memorabilia presented to him by a famed dissident, Prof. Tran Khue, a collection of poems from Bui Chat, and his proposal for establishing a website and a forum for lawyers.
His legal assistant Ta Phong Tan has released appeals 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".
Recently state-owned media have been viciously attacked two Redemptorist priests, who openly oppose the government bauxite mining plan in Central Highlands, calling for “immediate and severe punishment” against them. The accusations leveled against the two priests, labeling their actions as major crime of "plotting to overthrow communist regime" - an offense which can result in capital punishment if convicted, were so severe that many have been convinced that Vietnam government has been preparing public opinions for an arrest and persecution on the two priests. The calculated, malicious plot against lawyer Le Tran Luat has raised great concern among Catholics on legal support in case their priests are arrested.