Khanh Hoa Court Not Allows Mother to Attend Open Trial of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh

Defend the Defenders, June 19, 2017: The People’s Court in Vietnam’s central province of Khanh Hoa will not allow Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan to attend the upcoming open trial of her daughter Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a prominent human rights defender and well-known government critic under penname of Me Nam or Mother Mushroom.

The deny is because the trial against Ms. Quynh is special one, Trinh Thi Bien, secretary of the trial, told Ms. Lan on June 19 when she came to the court to request for her presence at the event scheduled on June 29.

Earlier, the court released a decision to hold the open trial against Quynh, who was arrested on October 10 last year and charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code.

In many political trials, few relatives and friends of defendants are allowed to be in the courtrooms. While foreign diplomats and reporters are placed in an another room to watch the open trials, relatives, friends and supporters of the defendants are not allowed to gather near the courtroom.

Last year, the Ministry of Public Security issued a circular to prevent  relatives, friends and supporters of the defendants to come to the areas near the courtrooms. They may be arrested and face charge of “conducting public disorders” with imprisonment of up to two years in jail.

Source: Defend the Defenders