The Ho Chi Minh Metropolis Bar Affiliation has eliminated the names of legal professionals Dang Dinh Manh and Nguyen Van Mieng from its checklist of members, in accordance with the Ho Chi Minh Metropolis Legislation Newspaper.
The 2 had not paid membership charges for a few years, the paper mentioned in its Wednesday version, including that the choice to droop them got here into impact on April 5.
Hinting at one more reason for the Bar Affiliation’s determination the paper added that the 2 legal professionals had beforehand defended six members of the Peng Lei Buddhist Home – or Tinh That Bong Lai – who have been sentenced in 2022 to a mixed 23 years and 6 months in jail on fees of “abusing democratic freedoms” beneath Article 331 of the Legal Code.
Lawyer Nguyen Van Mieng informed Radio Free Asia he was not stunned by the choice and famous that the Bar Affiliation has had ongoing issues with members not paying union dues. Nevertheless, he mentioned he believed that was not the principle cause for them canceling his membership.
“In Vietnam, working towards legal professionals are required to take part within the bar associations of provinces and cities. Everybody should belong to a sure bar affiliation. Subsequently, when the bar affiliation removes our names, it means we’re not certified to observe legislation in Vietnam despite the fact that we’re nonetheless legal professionals,” he mentioned.
“The independence of bar associations is sort of non-existent. The circumstances we work on associated to politics and democratic freedoms are monitored and the Bar Affiliation, as an expert group, is meant to guard us in our actions however they’re an prolonged arm of the safety company, or of different authorized companies.”
He mentioned it was clear that the actual cause for eradicating his title from the Bar Affiliation was to clear the way in which for his prosecution beneath Article 331 in reference to the Tinh That Bong Lai case.
Lawyer Dang Dinh Manh informed RFA that, in early 2023, the Ministry of Public Safety requested the Lengthy An Provincial Safety Investigation Company to conduct a legal investigation towards him.
He mentioned that after receiving political asylum within the U.S. he wrote to the Bar Affiliation asking for his title to be faraway from their checklist of legal professionals and in addition deleted any point out of the affiliation from his social media.
“At present, working towards legislation in Vietnam with skilled {qualifications} is unthinkable, however I nonetheless attempt to observe in accordance with the idea ‘there’s nothing that forestalls legal professionals from working towards in accordance with their skilled qualities’,” he mentioned.
”Wanting again on 28 years of observe, I’ve just one remorse: having to cease defending activists, as a result of with the ability to defend them is a privilege.”
The Ho Chi Minh Metropolis Bar Affiliation is beneath the direct management of the central authorities. One in all its duties is to characterize and shield the respectable rights and pursuits of working towards legal professionals.
Legal professionals Dang Dinh Manh and Nguyen Van Mieng are two of the 5 folks representing the defendants within the Tinh That Bong Lai case.
They’ve repeatedly obtained summonses from the Lengthy An Police because of experiences from the Division of Cyber Safety & Crime Prevention which mentioned the 2 distributed on-line video clips, photos and articles that allegedly confirmed indicators of abusing democratic freedoms, infringing on the pursuits of the State and the respectable rights of organizations and people in accordance with Article 331 of the Legal Code.
Each legal professionals ignored the summonses on the grounds that it was their proper to stay silent as individuals beneath investigation.
On June 11, 2023, the Lengthy An Provincial Police web site posted a search discover saying that the 2 legal professionals had ignored requests to return ahead to be interviewed and had ignored repeated summonses, whereas giving no cause for his or her absence. It mentioned that the police didn’t know the whereabouts of the 2 legal professionals.
The Lengthy An Provincial Police Division mentioned it supposed to seek for the legal professionals to resolve crime experiences.
Each legal professionals affirmed that this search process is unlawful, as a result of in accordance with the provisions of the Legal Process Code there isn’t any legislation regulating the process.
The 2 legal professionals are at present in the USA.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn and Elaine Chan.
