Cù Huy Hà Vũ is a Vietnamese legal scholar. A government critic and a dissident, he was taken into custody in 2010 on charges of "propaganda against the state" and "plotting to overthrow the communist government of Vietnam".
On 4 April 2011, Vu was sentenced to 7 years in prison for "spreading anti-state propaganda", drawing protests from human rights groups, the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and the international community. On 6 April 2014, Vu was released from prison and taken to

Noi Bai International Airport Nội Bài International Airport ( vi, Sân bay quốc tế Nội Bài) in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is the second largest and busiest airport for passenger traffic, after Tan Son Nhat International Airport. It is currently the main airpo ...

to be flown to

Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and Fai ...

, along with his wife.

Background

He is a son of poet Cù Huy Cận, who gained his political position in Vietnam thanks to being a companion of

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as Prime ...

during the

Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Cu Huy Cận went on to serve in Vietnam's first

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. Vũ's mother, Ngo Thi Xuan Nhu, was the sister of the poet

Xuân Diệu Ngô Xuân Diệu (; February 2, 1916 – December 18, 1985) was a Vietnamese poet, journalist, short-story writer, and literary critic, best known as one of the prominent figures of the twentieth-century Thơ mới (New Poetry) Movement. Hera ...

. Vu graduated with a doctorate in law from France's

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, though he did not become a licensed lawyer in Vietnam. Vũ's wife Nguyen Thi Duong Ha is also a lawyer, and together they run a law firm in

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

. In 2006, Vu made an unsuccessful bid to become the country's Minister of Culture.

Activism

Vũ attempted to sue Prime Minister

Nguyễn Tấn Dũng Nguyễn Tấn Dũng (born 17 November 1949) is a Vietnamese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Vietnam from 2006 to 2016. He was confirmed by the National Assembly on 27 June 2006, having been nominated by his predecessor, Phan Văn ...

on several occasions. In June 2009, he achieved national fame by filing a suit against Dung for granting a Chinese mining company rights to a

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

deposit. The suit was dismissed by the court. In September and October 2010, Vũ filed suits against Dũng for signing Decision No. 136, a measure that banned citizens from filing lawsuits or complaints against the national government. Vu also called in interviews for the revision of Article 4 of the

Constitution of Vietnam The Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Hiến pháp nước Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam) is the current constitution of Vietnam, adopted on 28 November 2013 by the Thirteenth National Assembly, and took eff ...

, which states that the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

is the only legal political party. Vũ stated that he wished for Vietnam to adopt democratic reforms and a

multiparty system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...

of government. In October 2010, Vũ's law firm began the defense of Catholics of Con Dau parish in

Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

, after police arrested members of the parish for a funeral procession in a disputed area. However, the firm was denied permission to represent the defendants by the Cam Le district People's Court.

Trial

On 5 November 2010, Vũ was arrested at a hotel in

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

; police claim to have arrested him when he was with a woman who was not his wife, and briefly posted photos of a half-dressed Vũ with a blurred woman to an official website. Vũ's home and law office were subsequently searched. Officials later stated Vu had "produced documents that opposed the State of Vietnam, employed propagandistic rhetoric as a form of a psychological warfare, demanded the overthrow of the regime and the realization of pluralism and a multiparty system, opposed the interest of the nation, and called for foreign intervention." On 4 April 2011, Vũ was tried on an indictment accusing him of disseminating anti-state propaganda via the Internet, interviews with international media, and other writings. The trial lasted half a day, during which Vu's lawyers walked out after a judge rejected their requests to make public the interviews which Vu was accused of giving. Foreign media was banned from the courtroom, though some reporters were allowed to watch the proceedings via closed-circuit television. Vũ stated to the court that "This criminal case was invented against me. This case is completely illegal." In sentencing Vũ, the judge stated that "Cu Huy Ha Vũ's behaviour is serious and harmful to society. His writings and interviews blackened directly or indirectly the Communist Party of Vietnam". Vu was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. Democracy activists Phạm Hồng Sơn and Lê Quốc Quân were arrested attempting to observe the trial and charged with "causing public disorder". Son's wife Vu Thu Ha stated that Son had been assaulted by police with batons prior to his arrest. The U.S. criticized the sentence, with the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

saying that the "apparent lack of due process" at Vũ's trial was troubling.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

declared him a prisoner of conscience and urged his immediate release.

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

churches held prayer vigils for Vũ in recognition of his work defending the rights of the country's Catholics.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

described the trial as "one of the most important cases involving a political dissident in the recent history of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam". The organization stated that Vũ was being "tried for his political bravery in peacefully challenging abuses of power, defending victims of land confiscation, and protecting the environment ... The government makes a mockery of its international human rights obligations when it persecutes activists like Dr. Vu who try to use the legal system to demand official accountability and rule of law".

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

"deplored" the verdict, stating, "We call on the authorities to end their harassment of dissidents, and to begin respecting free speech and the right of each citizen to freely express an opinion. Vu must be freed without delay." The

World Organisation Against Torture The World Organisation Against Torture (''Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture''; OMCT) is the world's largest coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against arbitrary detention, torture, summary and extrajudicial executions, f ...

(OMCT) and the

International Federation for Human Rights The International Federation for Human Rights (french: Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme; FIDH) is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international h ...

stated "their deepest concern" for Vu in a joint statement, with OMCT saying that "This case is sadly yet another example of the ongoing repression of fundamental rights in Viet Nam, and human rights defenders in particular have borne the brunt of such repression." The sentence was upheld by an appeals court in Hanoi on 2 August. In 2012, Vu was a finalist for the Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, which ultimately went to Syrian blogger

Razan Ghazzawi Razan Ghazzawi ( ar, رزان غزاوي; born 1980) is a Syrian-American blogger, campaigner and activist and currently a PhD researcher at the University of Sussex. She has been highly involved in the events during the Syrian Civil War, and h ...

. The same year, he was nominated for the

Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize The Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize, or Ludovic Trarieux Award, is an international human rights award given annually to a lawyer for contributions to the defence of human rights. History The Prize was inaugurated in Bordeaux i ...

"The tribute of lawyers to a lawyer".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cu, Huy Ha Vu 1957 births Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Vietnam Living people No-U Movement People from Hà Tĩnh province Vietnamese human rights activists Vietnamese democracy activists Vietnamese dissidents 20th-century Vietnamese lawyers Vietnamese prisoners and detainees Vietnamese exiles 21st-century Vietnamese lawyers