The sentences were handed down by the Hanoi People’s Court under Articles 88 and 92 of the Criminal Code and Articles 231 and 234 of the Criminal Procedures Code.

According to the indictment of the Hanoi People’s Procuracy and interrogations at the courtroom, since 2006 Dai and Nhan had used the Thien An Lawyers Office, located at No10 Doan Tran Nghiep Street in Hanoi and run by Dai, to disseminate information and gather, store and circulate documents against the Vietnamese State.

Raiding their office and houses, the police found many documents and publications which had been compiled and circulated by political opportunists and opponents in the country and overseas Vietnamese reactionaries such as “Freedom of Speech”, “The Motherland”, “Freedom of Democracy” and “The 2006 Manifesto on Freedom and Democracy for Vietnam”. They all contained misleading information distorting the history of the revolutionary struggle and Party guidelines and State policies and calling on people not to participate in the upcoming election of deputies to the 12^th National Assembly.

In addition, Dai and Nhan even wrote and circulated articles inciting people to overthrow the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Lawyers Tran Lam from the Hai Phong Bar Association and Dam Van Hieu from the Hanoi Bar Association did not give any new evidence to defend the two defendants at the trial.

The judge council ruled that their case was very serious as the defendants had committed dangerous acts against society by moulding bad public opinions inside and outside the country and directly threatening the national security, interests and fruits of Vietnamese people in the cause of national construction and defence. In addition, their behaviour made people lose their confidence in the Communist Party of Vietnam and the socialist regime.