VietNamNet Bridge - At the regular Foreign Ministry press conference on June 25, a Foreign Ministry's spokesman emphasized that the arrest of HCM City lawyer Le Cong Dinh (photo) is entirely consonant with Vietnamese and international law and it is an internal affair of Vietnam.Following is the full text of the Foreign ministry statement.
On June 13, investigative agencies of the Ministry of Public Security urgently arrested Le Cong Dinh in accordance with Article 88 of the Penal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Le Cong Dinh is a resident of Ho Chi Minh City who works at the Le Cong Dinh Private Law Office. Le Cong Dinh is a person who was educated by the Vietnamese State, allowed to pursue professional training abroad and, when he returned, the State created opportunity for him to practice his profession; he even was Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association. This shows clearly that the Vietnamese State did not treat Le Cong Dinh in a discriminatory way.
Le Cong Dinh was able to express his individual opinions orally and in writing. For many years now, Le Cong Dinh has written many articles sent to the newspapers Thanh Nien, Tuoi Tre, Saigon Tiep thi, Thoi Bao Kinh te Saigon, Tia Sang magazine and the Vietnamese service of the BBC. He has often been interviewed by the BBC, Radio France International, Radio Free Asia, etc.
However, recently, Le Cong Dinh had activities violating Vietnamese law, communicating and colluding directly with a number of organizations and groups of Vietnamese exiles in foreign countries. Among these were organizations, which the Vietnamese Government has put on its terrorist list, which plot to overturn the Vietnamese State. Le Cong Dinh misused democracy and human rights as a screen aimed at carrying out a plot to bring down the Vietnamese State.
On June 17 at a security agency, Le Cong Dinh confessed to activities that violate the Vietnamese laws. In his report, Le Cong Dinh wrote: “I see that things I have done violate Vietnamese law. I regret my incorrect activities greatly. I hope that the State will examine this and grant me clemency.”
The Vietnamese public security agencies’ arrest of Le Cong Dinh and investigation of his illegal acts not only correctly followed Vietnam’s legal procedures and is a Vietnamese internal matter, but it is also fully consistent with decisions of International Law, among these, with Articles 19C, 20 and 21 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. These articles say clearly that “the exercise of rights like freedom of speech and peaceful assembly . . . must proceed together with duties and responsibilities that have been established to protect national security and civil order.” This is a matter that all the nations of the world carry out in order to guarantee national security, social order and the safety of their citizens.
The Vienna Declaration of the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 also clearly states that the special circumstances of nations and regions and their different cultural, historical and religious bases should be considered in the work of protecting and extending human rights. The preservation of peace, security and social order, participation in activities against terrorism are essential interests of every nation. Vietnam hopes for understanding and support as it struggles against plots and activities by individual organizations that intrigue to cause riots, bring down and destroy the State, destroying the tranquil life of the people. Vietnam’s success in preserving peace and stability in order to develop in recent years has helped to ensure the peace, stability and development of the region and the entire world.
VietNamNet/VnMedia
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