The Democratic Party of Vietnam

Office of the Central Committee

Media Statement No. 1/PNN/2009

STATEMENT TO THE MEDIA

On August 6, 2009, the website of the Democratic Party of Vietnam was attacked by hackers from Vietnam. The
hackers fraudulently transferred our main domain name, ddcvn.org, and other domains to another server. While
waiting for the return of our original domain name, the new website www.ddcvn.info is the official website of the
Democratic Party of Vietnam starting on August 24, 2009. The stealing of email passwords, hacking of websites,
and infecting other people’s computers with viruses via the internet are illegal acts not only in Vietnam. This is a
criminal act. The Democratic Party of Vietnam requests the cooperation of Vietnam’s government in stopping these
criminal hackers.
On August 19, 2009, Vietnam’s government allows the media to run video footages showing the four democracy
activists “confessing, asking for clemency”, including Nguyen Tien Trung, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Le Cong Dinh,
and Tran Anh Kim. The Democratic Party of Vietnam has the following statement:
All democracy activists mentioned above are innocent. All are true patriots, law-abiding citizens, acting in the
interest of the people, and all share the goal of creating a just society. The “confession” and “asking for clemency”
footages speak for themselves about everything that is wrong with society, and are a nearly complete indictment
against the current regime. The footages also show the sacrifice of freedom and dignity of our democracy activists.
The video footages are obviously the work directed, in both the form and contents, by government offices of the
party in power. The democracy activists are victims of the pressure they face while being jailed and the coercion of
security agents. Recall the former prisoner of war, Mr. John McCain, at Hoa Lo prison, Hanoi, 40 years ago. Mr.
John McCain also “confessed and asked for clemency” to satisfy the demand of the communists, despite US military
law prohibiting him from doing so. But after his release and return to the US, Mr. McCain was greeted by President
Nixon at the White House. Mr. McCain was elected to Congress and became a well-known senator for nearly a
quarter of a century. Recently, Senator McCain was a Republican presidential candidate in the last election. That
was the case of a prisoner of war half a century ago, but in the time of peace, when facing democratic activities,
security agencies still act in a backward manner, contradicting the government's goal of creating a just and
democratic society.
If the activities of our democracy activists violate the law, the government must try their cases in a court of law. By
the provisions of the law, no one is considered guilty until the court issues its guilty verdict. Therefore, such
confession has no legal value.
While there has been no official verdict of the court, the government already directed and set up our democracy
activists to “confess” then showed the footage on television. Clearly, the party in power intentionally smeared these
democracy advocates and democratic activities. It also shows that the party in power is acting erratically when
facing pressure from public opinion within the country and abroad regarding the recent arrests. Having to “confess”
on television while still not proven guilty is a ridiculous drama defying legal and moral values of society.
The fact that the party in power still treats the people who love their country and contribute to the betterment of
society as prisoners is inappropriate in a modern society. Democratic activities are the rights of the citizen, and they
benefit society. The law of Vietnam does not prohibit political activities. The Democratic Party of Vietnam has
been present in Vietnam for many years. Vietnam’s government has never issued any official document to prohibit
the Democratic Party.
With the reasons stated above, the Democratic Party of Vietnam requests that the government of the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam completely stop the oppression, imprisonment, slandering, and smearing of members of the
Democratic Party. The government must truthfully practice its policy of unity and govern society according to the
law. With that policy, the government must realize: a totalitarian regime cannot build a rule-of-law state with its true
meaning; peaceful political activities do not violate the law; and, there are no enemies among Vietnamese people.
August 24, 2009
Office of the Central Committee
Nguyen Hoang Lan
Spokeswoman of the Democratic Party of Vietnam
Email: phatngonnhan.ddcvn@gmail.com