Over the past days, foreign websites and newspapers have run distorted stories about the case of Nguyen Phuong Uyen, a third-year student at HCM City ’s Food Industry University, who was arrested by the security force. To help the public have the correct insight into the nature of the case, the Vietnam News Agency provides the following information.

>> Nguyen Phuong Uyen indicted on anti-state charges

On October 19, 2012, security force of southern Long An province issued a decision to take the initial legal steps to proceed with the criminal case and the defendants, and to detain Dinh Nguyen Kha and Nguyen Phuong Uyen for four months, so as to clarify the actions the pair and others had taken when distributing propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, under Article 88 of the Penal Code.

According to Colonel Nguyen Sau, Deputy Director of Long An Police and head of the province’s Investigation Department, on October 11, 2012, provincial police raided Kha’s house and uncovered evidence of him in possession of leaflets the content of which violated Vietnamese law.

The investigation proved that Kha and Uyen jointly conducted the illegal activities under the guidance of Nguyen Thien Thanh, to spread propaganda against the Vietnamese State . Thanh, who was born in Long An province, fled abroad after being found breaking Vietnamese law. He is a member of the so-called Tuoi tre yeu nuoc (Patriotic Youth), which is a reactionary organisation by nature.

In his confession, Kha admitted that Thanh had asked him to make bombs and instructed him how to make detonators from light bulbs. Kha informed Thanh of his success at making detonators and Thanh said he would entrust Kha with the task of planting the bomb at a certain place.

According to Senior Lieutenant Colonel Le Hong Ha, deputy head of Ho Chi Minh City’s Investigation Department, at 7:15 am on October 10, 2012, leaflets bearing the name of the Tuoi tre yeu nuoc reactionary organisation that distorted and fabricated the Party and State’s religious and land policies as well as expressed a biased viewpoint on Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagoes and the land border between Vietnam and China were spread at An Suong flyover in HCM City

The leaflets also said that the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) is depraved and degenerated, and incited people to protest against the Party and the State. The security agency seized on the spot 723 leaflets as well as slogans and a cardboard box with a yellow flag with three red stripes, the flag of the former Sai Gon regime.

In her confession, Uyen declared that she and Kha had jointly spread the leaflets. They had attached Vietnamese banknotes worth between 5,000-10,000 VND or 20,000 VND to 2000 leaflets. Kha then built a timer, set to automatically open the box and spread the leaflets onto the street.

At dawn on October 10, Uyen and Kha posed as a couple going from Long An over the An Suong flyover. They took photographs and filmed the scene where the leaflets were scattered about the street with officials grabbing the leaflets, then sent them to Thanh via Facebook and Yahoo.

Uyen admitted that in May 2012, she had met Thanh through Yahoo Messenger. After that, Thanh introduced Kha, who was born in 1988 in Long An and earned his living by repairing computers, to her. Under Thanh’s directions, on August 20 Uyen erected the flag of the former Saigon regime and hung a banner that defamed the CPV along National Road No. 28 in central Binh Thuan province.

After her arrest, Uyen felt remorseful and pled guilty. “I realise that my actions broke Vietnamese law, denounced the Party and the State, and lent a helping hand to reactionary organisations against the Party and State,” Uyen said.

She blamed her deeds on economic difficulties. “I did this to please Thanh so that he would give me a laptop, mobile phone and money to learn,” she said.

Uyen said she hoped she will receive clemency and forgiveness from the Party and State so that she can continue with her studies to become a useful citizen.

According to the management board for HCM City Food Industry University , Uyen is not a member of the university’s Youth Union. Regarding the list of 109 students at the school, who were said to have signed a petition to the State President, the board said that the code for each student was not correct.

Many students named on the list said they did not know anything about the petition and denied they had even signed it.

This shows that the information published on several websites and newspapers is fabricated and groundless. The arrest of Kha and Uyen was carried out in the right manner and under the procedures laid down in Vietnamese law.