Introduction

The arrest and detention of Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu in November 2010 and his trial in April 2011 has attracted more media coverage than any other dissident case in recent memory in Vietnam, and for good reason. The case pits an unusually powerful and well-connected legal activist against the highest political figures in the country, and involves a wide range of human rights issues including police misconduct, arbitrary detention, violation of privacy, land grabbing, neglect of due process, and repression of freedom of expression. There is little doubt it will have a lasting impact on the ongoing struggle between the Vietnamese government and its critics.

There are several reasons why Dr. Vu’s case may well evolve into one of the most important cases involving a political dissident in the recent history of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.  First, Dr. Vu comes from a prominent family that includes high-ranking members of the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), revolutionary heroes, famous poets, and high-level government officials. Second, his family has waged a vigorous fight for his freedom, especially his wife, lawyer Nguyen Thi Duong Ha, and his sister, Cu Thi Xuan Bich. His defense team launched creative legal maneuvers such as requesting the presence of Vietnam’s president, Nguyen Minh Triet, at his trial on the grounds that as president he should be present to represent the “victim” and plaintiff in the case, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Dr. Vu’s wife and sister at a vigil at Thai Ha Parish on April 3, 2011. © J.B Nguyen Huu Vinh

Finally, unprecedented popular support for Dr. Vu has emerged and continues to grow online from diverse sectors of Vietnamese society, including Catholic parishioners from Hanoi and Nam Dinh; urban bloggers, academics, writers, journalists, and dissidents; senior Vietnamese Communist Party members; technocrats, land rights petitioners, and ordinary citizens such as teachers, small business owners, workers, farmers, and taxi drivers.