US embassy cable - 04HOCHIMINHCITY917

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000917 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, SOCI, PREL, SCUL, VM, HUMANR 
SUBJECT: DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST TRAN KHUE SENTENCED TO TWENTY MONTHS 
 
REF:  HCMC 0873 
 
1. (SBU) The Ho Chi Minh City People's Court convicted detained 
democracy activist Tran Khue of violating administrative 
detention and abusing democracy and freedom to undermine national 
interests on July 9th.  Khue was sentenced to 19 months, with 
credit for 18 months and nine days time served.  The charge of 
espionage was dropped, as reported reftel.  Khue is scheduled to 
be released on July 31. 
 
2. (SBU) According to family members (strictly protect), Khue 
chose to defend himself in the four and a half hour trial, rather 
than employ two attorneys he had retained for that purpose.  With 
the sounds of a celebration in the background, one of Khue's 
adult children told ConGen that Khue mounted a spirited defense 
in the face of heated questioning.  He said discussions during 
the trial, which lasted from 08:00 to 12:30, were "not pleasant." 
 
3. (SBU) Despite a negative response from the HCMC External 
Relations Office (ERO - the southern branch office of the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs), to a formal ConGen request to 
attend the trial, ConGenoffs made one last-ditch effort to 
persuade court officials to admit them to the early morning 
proceedings.  While ConGenoffs were ultimately unsuccessful in 
gaining entrance, family members later said they were pleased to 
see them at the courthouse.  Court officials invited up to ten 
family members to witness the trial, although only seven actually 
chose to attend. 
 
4. (SBU) Khue, an elderly writer and former literature professor, 
was arrested on Dec. 29, 2002, just a few days after he met with 
fellow democracy activist Pham Que Duong in HCMC.  (Duong was 
arrested one day earlier at the HCMC train station, and is due to 
be tried in Hanoi on July 14.)  At the time of his arrest, he was 
under an administrative detention order imposed one year earlier 
for his role in seeking to register an independent, nationwide 
anti-corruption organization. 
 
5. (SBU) Comment:  Post was dismayed but not surprised at the 
lack of access to this most recent high-profile trial in HCMC. 
Unusual, however, was the telephone call from ERO at 
approximately 10:30 a.m. informing ConGen that Khue was likely to 
receive a relatively light sentence for a lesser offense.  That 
they provided this information just barely halfway through the 
trial speaks volumes for the judicial process, but is another in 
a series of recent indications that the GVN is trying to score 
points with the international community on its human rights 
record.  Next week's trial of Khue's colleague, Pham Que Duong, 
in Hanoi, will be the next big test. 
 
YAMAUCHI