By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HANOI, Vietnam– Le Cong Dinh, a prominent lawyer, was arrested by Vietnamese authorities under conspiracy charges and for expressing his views on the Internet.  The international community is voicing concerns over Dinh’s arrest in fear that this detention will have a “chilling effect” on Vietnam’s legal profession.

Le Cong Dinh (Source: BBC)

Dinh is a former Fulbright scholar who is well-respected in the Vietnamese and international legal communities.  He has been calling for a wider reform of the Vietnamese political system, and has defended Vietnam’s leading human rights and pro-democracy activists.

However, he was arrested over the weekend for “colluding with domestic and foreign reactionaries to sabotage the Vietnamese state” and was criminally charged for distributing anti-government materials.  Dinh, a well-published writer and columnist, was alleged to have been found with a copy of a constitution he wrote with the hopes of replacing the current one.  Other allegations against Dinh include libeling Vietnam’s top leaders in published documents.

One official from Amnesty International expressed concern saying that the Vietnamese criminal code Dinh is charged with is “so vaguely worded that it criminalises peaceful political dissent,” and a Paris-based group said, “We fear that this arrest is aimed at punishing a respected man who promotes the cause of the rule of law in Vietnam.”

U.S. State Department released a statement Monday calling for Dinh’s immediate and unconditional release, and said “No individual should be arrested for expressing the right to free speech, and no lawyer should be punished because of the individuals they choose to counsel.”
For more information, please see:

AFP – Concern mounts over Vietnam lawyer’s arrest – 16 June 2009

BBC – Vietnam holds high-profile lawyer – 14 June 2009

U.S. Department of State – Vietnam: Arrest of Lawyer Le Cong Dinh – 15 June 2009