Profile

Nguyen Van Mieng

Nguyễn Văn Miếng

Detainment Type: At risk

Photo of Nguyen Van Mieng

Date of Birth:

Gender: M

Ethnicity: Kinh

Occupation: Lawyer

Citizen: Y

Citizenship Status: Citizen (by birth, descent)

Human Rights Defender: Y

Activist Focus:

  • Defense of HRDs

Details

Nguyen Van Mieng defended six members of the Peng Lei Buddhist House – or Tinh That Bong Lai template – who were sentenced in 2022 to a combined 23 years and six months in prison on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331 of the Criminal Code. During his career, Mieng defended at leasts 20 clients those were human rights and democracy activists and independent journalists.

Photo source: Nguyen Van Mieng's Facebook 

June 11, 2023: summoned for questioning related to a case

  • Intimidation
  • Administrative
  • Summons
June 11, 2023
Long An, Viet Nam

judicial/legal
Yes
Unknown
No
No

On June 11, 2023, the Long An Provincial Police website posted a search notice saying that Nguyen Van Mieng had ignored requests to come forward to be interviewed and had ignored repeated summonses, while giving no reason for his absence. The Long An Provincial Police Department said it intended to search for Mieng to resolve crime reports. According to Mieng, he ignored the summonses on the grounds that it was his right to remain silent as a person under investigation.

Mieng then fled to the United States.

According to RFA, three of the five lawyers defending the Bong Lai Temple case and who were harassed by the police, fled Vietnam. 

In addition, on April 5, 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association announced that it had removed Nguyen Van Mieng from its list of members. According to the Bar Association, Mieng had not paid membership fees for many years. 

Resources

Công an tiếp tục truy tìm 3 luật sư trong vụ án Tịnh thất Bồng Lai, Pháp Luật Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, April 20, 2024, Archived source.

Ba luật sư vụ Thiền Am lên tiếng về ‘Thông báo truy tìm’ của Công an Long An, RFA Tiếng Việt, June 15, 2023, Archived source.

Vì sao CQĐT truy tìm 3 luật sư từng tham gia bào chữa vụ Tịnh thất Bồng Lai?, Thanh Niên, June 12, 2023, Archived source.

Thông báo truy tìm người, Trang Thông Tin Điện Tử Công an Tỉnh Long An, June 11, 2023, Archived source.

Truy tìm 3 luật sư từng bào chữa vụ 'tịnh thất Bồng Lai', Tuổi Trẻ Online, June 3, 2023, Archived source.

Vietnam: Halt spurious criminal investigations against human rights lawyers Dang Dinh Manh and Nguyen Van Mieng, ICJ, May 9, 2023, Archived source.

Xóa tên 3 luật sư từng bào chữa vụ 'tịnh thất Bồng Lai' vì nợ phí nhiều năm, Tuổi Trẻ Online, Aug. 13, 2024. Archived version.

Profile last updated: 2024-10-09 03:23:33

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