Nguyen Minh Son, 60, is refusing to appeal his prison sentence because he does not believe in Vietnam’s justice system, his wife told Radio Free Asia.
Hanoi People’s Court sentenced him to six years in prison on Sept. 29 for “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the criminal code.
He made a live-streamed video last December, standing outside the same court, reacting to the trial of fellow activist Le Trong Hung who had just been given a five-year sentence under Article 117.
During the drunken broadcast he cursed the Communist Party and revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh, the country’s first leader.
Son’s wife Nguyen Thi Phuoc visited him at a Hanoi police detention center on Oct. 17.
“Son said he would not appeal because he knew that political trials in Vietnam were unfair and the sentence had been decided in advance,” she told RFA Vietnamese.
“He is steadfast, maintaining his position that he is not guilty, but only exercising his right to freedom of speech.”
Under Vietnamese law people have 15 days from the date of sentencing to lodge an appeal. If they don’t the sentence takes effect.
Several dissidents refused to appeal, saying they didn’t believe in the justice system. Among them are journalist Pham Chi Dung, president of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam, and RFA blogger Nguyen Lan Thang, both convicted under Article 117.
Dung is serving a 15-year prison sentence, the maximum for the crime of “propaganda against the state” while Thang is serving a six-year prison sentence.
Son’s lawyer Ngo Anh Tuan, said the six-year prison sentence for his client was extremely harsh compared to what he had done. In an interview with RFA after the trial, he said Son’s behavior could have been punished more appropriately, such as with a fine.
Son participated in many protests in Hanoi between 2011 and 2018, protesting China’s territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea, the Hanoi government cutting down ancient trees and other issues.
However, his arrest surprised many of his friends who told RFA he was not famous or a social media influencer so his actions and posts didn’t have a major impact.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.