The People’s Procuracy of HCM City on April 14 said that the indictment and documents of the case related to three defendants, including blogger Dieu Cay, had been transferred to the municipal People’s Court for trial in the coming time.

Nguyen Van Hai (left) and Phan Thanh Hai

The three defendants, including Nguyen Van Hai, 60, who is known as blogger Dieu Cay, Ta Phong Tan, 44, and Phan Thanh Hai, 43, are accused of taking propaganda against the state.

According to the indictment, in 2001, Le Xuan Lap, 54, who worked at the HCM City office of a newspaper asked the permission of the Vietnamese Journalists’ Association to establish the “Freedom Journalists’ Association” to assist freelance writers who do not have press cards. The proposal was rejected.

In 2007, after being retired, Mr. Lap submitted the similar proposal to the Prime Minister but it was also rejected.

Through the Internet, Lap, Nguyen Van Hai or blogger Dieu Cay and some others established the “Club of Freedom Journalists”, with Hai as the chair. After that, Hai and two others were assigned to design the blog of the club and sharing the blog password to other club members.

However, Hai changed the password to self master the blog. Hai recruited Ta Phong Tan and Phan Thanh Hai, who shared similar points of view, to join the club. Hai was elected as the club chair while Lap was rejected from the club.

Since then, Nguyen Van Hai, Ta Phong Tan and Phan Thanh Hai wrote many articles against the state on the club’s blog and their own blogs, including “Justice and Truth” or “Truth and Justice” of Ta Phong Tan and “Anhbasaigon” of Phan Thanh Hai.

They posted 421 articles on the club blog from September 2007 to October 2010, including 94 articles written by the club members and 327 fed from blogs and websites of anti-Vietnamese state organisations.

According to inspectors of the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 26 articles excited public opinion against the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, to change the current regime and State.

They also took advantage of some political and social events to organise and take part in demonstrations in the name of opposing China’s invasion of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa (Paracel and Spratly Islands) and boycotting the Beijing Olympics when the torch relay was held in HCM City.

According to the HCM City People’s Procuracy, Nguyen Van Hai was the leader of the Club of Freedom Journalists, who takes responsibility for articles on the club blog from the club’s establishment to April 20, 2008. (He was arrested for tax evasion and sentenced two years and six months in jail). Hai was also accused of getting in touch with anti-State forces outside Vietnam to get their assistance to carry out illegal activities.

Ta Phong Tan delivered 101 anti-State documents while Phan Thanh Hai posted 20 anti-State articles.

Nguyen Van Hai and Phan Thanh Hai attended a training course held by the Viet Tan Party, an organisation against the Vietnamese state, in Thailand.

Nguyen Van Hai and Ta Phong Tan did not cooperate with investigators, did not declare or admit their acts. However, evidences are sufficient to prove that these defendants committed anti-state activities.

At first, Phan Thanh Hai did not admit his anti-state activities but after that he confessed his guilty and submitted petition for tolerance.

Le Xuan Lap and other subjects wrote and diffused some anti-state documents but they well cooperated with investigators, so they are not subjects to criminal action.