Nguyen Dinh Khue

During the crackdown on the occasion of Vietnam’s Reunification Day on April 30, Nguyen Dinh Khue, or Facebooker Ngai Nam Tuoc, was arrested. On the same day, two others, including Las Plagas and Vy Bui, who live near Nguyen Dinh Khue in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai province, were also in the same situation.

According to Facebooker Pham Ngoc, who first shared their news on Facebook, the three Facebookers often post and share articles on the current national issues and criticize the government on Facebook. They were accused of calling for a demonstration for civil rights and were all arrested on April 25, 2019.

A group of 20 to 30 security officers stormed into Khue's house and announced they had a search order. They confiscated his phone and iPad before bring him to B5 Detention Center.

On May 6, 2019, the Investigation Security Agency of Dong Nai Province released an announcement on his contemporary detention. Khue was accused of “contacting, debating with Doan Viet Hoan and others on carrying out a demonstration, causing explosion to against the people’s administration under the command of 'Lisa Nguyen' from overseas” and contemporarily detained under Article 118 of the 2015 Penal Code. Khue could face a conviction from six months to 15 years in prison under this accusation.

November 2019:

On November 26, 2019, the People’s Court of Dong Nai Province sentenced Vo Thuong Trung and Doan Viet Hoan to three years in prison, while Ngo Xuan Thanh and Nguyen Dinh Khue each received a 28-month conviction. All were charged under Article 118 of the 2015 Criminal Code for “disturbing security.” According to the indictment, they were accused of reading articles with anti-regime content on the Internet and planning demonstrations with various methods, including preparing explosions to go off on April 28, 2019. In the plan, Hoan was said to be a leader for a peaceful demonstration, with the duty of creating a “demonstration plan” and uploading 12 videos, with instructions on causing explosions, to social media. Trung was allegedly responsible for buying explosive chemicals, and along with Khue, finding a location for explosions. Thanh, with his knowledge of causing explosions, was allegedly in charge of gathering people for their so-called disruption plan. 

However, according to Khue’s defense counsel, lawyer Nguyen Van Mieng, the court could not provide evidence to prove that they were planning to use explosive materials since police failed to find any material to make explosive devices and confiscated their phones instead. Mieng also claimed that four defendants only wanted to protest against a price hike in electricity and gas, as well as against the bill on Special Economic Zones, with the fear that Vietnam would be dependent on Chinese investment. Lawyer Mieng asserts that beside messages and their online communication concerning the demonstration, no evidence about the alleged bombing could be found. He notes that the men were arrested on April 25, only three days before the scheduled crime. If they had intended to do anything with bombing and destroying properties, the public security force would have at least found some evidence such as wire, explosive materials, and related devices. The fact that they could find nothing means that the accusation is very weak, if not unfounded.

All six bloggers and activists were merely exercising their human rights, which are protected by both domestic law and international treaties.