Facebook user’s wife says claims her husband insulted authorities are groundless

The wife of Vietnamese Facebook user Bui Van Thuan says he has never admitted to breaking the law in the 15 months since his arrest. Trinh Thi Nhung also said Thuan had met two lawyers to prepare his defense.
The People"s Procuracy of Thanh Hoa province prosecuted Thuan for "making, storing and spreading information with items aimed at opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," on Sept. 26, this year
"Bui Van Thuan"s activities are of a very serious nature and have infringed on security in the field of thought and culture of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; infringed upon the stability of spiritual life and the unification of the political and ideological foundation and the people"s confidence in the political system, weakening the strength of the people"s government, the socialist regime and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," the 15-page indictment signed by Deputy Director Nguyen Duc Thanh concluded.
Nhung told RFA last Friday she had read the entire document and it was completely untrue.
“All charges against Bui Van Thuan are based on accusations and evidence that does not belong to Thuan,” she said.
“I do not see Thuan confessing to any crime at any point in this indictment."
The indictment said that some people became Facebook friends with Thuan to buy honey from him but then discovered ‘controversial’ posts, which they reported to the authorities. The indictment mentions three people who made accusations:  Che Ngoc Trung, Nguyen Van Thanh and Ha Thi Duyen.
They reportedly denounced the Facebook account, opened in the name "Thuan Van Bui (Cha già Dân tộc)" the part in brackets translating as “Old Father of the Nation,” saying Thuan posted many articles "with false information, content, misrepresenting the Party and State, and smearing and insulting Party and State leaders."
Nhung told RFA she tried to contact the three to find out if they really existed, who they were and where they lived. Two of the three blocked her Facebook account immediately, the other did not respond.
“In the indictment, there are three people who filed accusations against my husband. I have no idea who they are, nor have they ever come to my house. Whether Mr. Thuan knows them or not, I don"t know," she said.
“Since it is absurd to make accusations against others without being present in court, I hope the lawyers will ask all those accusers to be present in court to testify.”
RFA Vietnamese contacted the three through their Facebook accounts as listed in the indictment. Che Ngoc Trung did not answer messages. The other two refused either to confirm or deny denouncing Thuan to the authorities. Ha Thi Duyen also told RFA she is under police surveillance. 
Thuan, 41, was arrested on Aug. 29, 2021. He is said to be the author of a series of Facebook posts about the struggle for power of officials in many localities, which he nicknamed "the dog fighting ring."
Police investigated the case and recommended prosecuting Thuan for "making, storing, distributing or propagating information, documents and items aimed at opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
In September this year the People’s Procuracy of Than Hoa province wrote the indictment, which said that between 2016 and 2021 Bui Van Thuan used two Facebook accounts "Thuan Van Bui (Cha già Dân tộc)" and Thuan Van Bui (Cha dà Dân tộc)" to slander the Party and State, insult the leadership and misrepresent Party guidelines and the policies and laws of the State. 
The indictment said Thanh Hoa"s Department of Information and Communications found 105 articles posted on the two Facebook accounts, of which 27 had content that went "against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam." Among them were articles with up to 394 comments and 595 shares.
The indictment also said that during the investigation Thuan admitted creating and using many Facebook accounts. He said some had been suspended and others were no longer under his control, so at the time of his arrest he only used his personal account, Bùi Thuận, to share his activities and sell honey. Thuan denied creating, using or managing the two Facebook accounts containing defamatory articles.
Based on the accusations of the three people mentioned in the indictment and the fact that the two accounts fell silent after Thuan’s arrest, the police said the authorities had enough grounds to conclude that the accounts and "malicious" articles were posted by Thuan.
The charges, contained in Article 117 of the Criminal Code, carry a sentence of between five and 12 years in prison.
 


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