The UIA celebrates the release of Vietnamese lawyer Le Cong Dinh

Le Cong Dinh, an eminent lawyer and human rights defender and former Vice-President of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar, was freed on February 6, 2013.

Mr. Dinh was arrested in June 2009 at his law firm, and was initially accused of "propaganda against the government". He was disbarred a month later. On January 20, 2010, after having acknowledged that he had engaged in activities promoting democracy and a multi-party system in Vietnam, he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for "activities seeking to overthrow the people's government".

In November 2012, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the UN's Human Rights Council concluded that his deprivation of liberty was arbitrary[1].

Mr. Dinh had, in particular, represented Vietnamese bloggers, human rights defenders and labour law activists.

The UIA welcomes the release of Mr. Dinh. Furthermore, it requests the Vietnamese authorities not to oppose any steps he may choose to take to seek to rejoin the Bar from which he was unjustly disbarred.

Mobilised since 2007 concerning various cases regarding Vietnamese lawyers, the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA - International Association of Lawyers) calls for the end of all types of persecution against lawyers who peacefully express themselves in defense of democratic values and the respect for human rights in Vietnam.