On 19 March 2010, Mr. Huynh Ba was sentenced to 2-year in jail although he already spent one year behind bar prior to the sentencing. His crime: Demanding Hanoi to return back his ancestral land he owned.11 October 2010
Prey Nokor News
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Click here to read the article in Khmer
The communist Vietnamese authority ordered the family of Mr. Hyunh Ba to speak Vietnamese when they visit him in jail. Mr. Huynh Ba was sentenced to 2-year in jail by the communist regime court on 19 March 2010.
A source from Mr. Huynh Ba’s family told the Prey Nokor News that, up to now, Mr. Huynh Ba has been jailed for more than 1 year by the communist regime already, and he will be released in May 2011. Currently, Hanoi allows his family to visit him normally, but they are prohibited from speaking Khmer, the native language of Huynh Ba and his family. The family was ordered to speak Vietnamese only.
On Friday 19 March 2010, the communist court in Khleang province sentenced Huynh Ba to 2-year in jail after he was accused of taking advantage of “democratic freedom right” to violate the state interest and the interest of the apparatus for promotion of the worker and farmer class as stipulated in Article 258 of the criminal code, even though he was arrested and sent to jail one year prior to his sentencing.
According to the court verdict, Huynh Ba was accused of daring to cast his net over the top of a mountain when he sued the local and the upper authorities to demand his land back. He was also accused of making propagandas, of protesting on numerous occasions in Prek Russei city and Prey Nokor City (Saigon), and he even traveled to Hanoi, an act that the communist regime considers as disrupting social order and safety, as well as affecting the livelihood of several families.
Huynh Ba’s verdict also claimed that he contacted organizations outside of Vietnam which Hanoi considered as reactionary groups that falsely shed a bad light on the Hanoi regime and that destroy Hanoi’s so-called “minority’s grand solidarity.”
Following Huynh Ba’s protest from the local level all the way to the central party level, not only did Hanoi not resolve the problem for him, but on 10 January 2008, the office of the Viet PM sent a letter to Huynh Ba ordering him to absolutely stop his land protest.
Huynh Ba is a 47-year-old Khmer Krom farmer living in Tan Quy village, Tan Hung commune, Andong Teuk district (renamed Long Phu in Viet), Khleang province (renamed Soc Trang). He was arrested and sent to jail since May 2009 because he demanded back several hectares of his ancestral land that were confiscated by the Viet regime in Andong Teuk district and turned into public farm in 1979.
According to an investigation report by the Viet court, it was announced that Huynh Nhek, Huynh Ba’s father, owned 100,000 sq-meters of ancestral lands, including their house, farmlands and rice fields in Tan Quy A village, Tan Hung commune, Andong Teuk district, Khleang province. The report also indicated that 4,500 sq-meters of land occupied by Mr. Huynh Nhek house was confiscated by the communist regime and distributed to the people in order to set up a village following the 60s communist Dong Khoi policy (Phong trào Đồng khởi).
Khmer Krom ancestral land left over after the confiscation made by the Ngo Din Diem regime was 95,500 sq-meters. In 1979, the communist regime in Andong Teuk district confiscated 29,000 sq-meters of land belonging to 6 families, including the land belonging to Mr. Huynh Nhek, Huynh Ba’s father.
A source from Mr. Huynh Ba’s family told the Prey Nokor News that, up to now, Mr. Huynh Ba has been jailed for more than 1 year by the communist regime already, and he will be released in May 2011. Currently, Hanoi allows his family to visit him normally, but they are prohibited from speaking Khmer, the native language of Huynh Ba and his family. The family was ordered to speak Vietnamese only.
On Friday 19 March 2010, the communist court in Khleang province sentenced Huynh Ba to 2-year in jail after he was accused of taking advantage of “democratic freedom right” to violate the state interest and the interest of the apparatus for promotion of the worker and farmer class as stipulated in Article 258 of the criminal code, even though he was arrested and sent to jail one year prior to his sentencing.
According to the court verdict, Huynh Ba was accused of daring to cast his net over the top of a mountain when he sued the local and the upper authorities to demand his land back. He was also accused of making propagandas, of protesting on numerous occasions in Prek Russei city and Prey Nokor City (Saigon), and he even traveled to Hanoi, an act that the communist regime considers as disrupting social order and safety, as well as affecting the livelihood of several families.
Huynh Ba’s verdict also claimed that he contacted organizations outside of Vietnam which Hanoi considered as reactionary groups that falsely shed a bad light on the Hanoi regime and that destroy Hanoi’s so-called “minority’s grand solidarity.”
Following Huynh Ba’s protest from the local level all the way to the central party level, not only did Hanoi not resolve the problem for him, but on 10 January 2008, the office of the Viet PM sent a letter to Huynh Ba ordering him to absolutely stop his land protest.
Huynh Ba is a 47-year-old Khmer Krom farmer living in Tan Quy village, Tan Hung commune, Andong Teuk district (renamed Long Phu in Viet), Khleang province (renamed Soc Trang). He was arrested and sent to jail since May 2009 because he demanded back several hectares of his ancestral land that were confiscated by the Viet regime in Andong Teuk district and turned into public farm in 1979.
According to an investigation report by the Viet court, it was announced that Huynh Nhek, Huynh Ba’s father, owned 100,000 sq-meters of ancestral lands, including their house, farmlands and rice fields in Tan Quy A village, Tan Hung commune, Andong Teuk district, Khleang province. The report also indicated that 4,500 sq-meters of land occupied by Mr. Huynh Nhek house was confiscated by the communist regime and distributed to the people in order to set up a village following the 60s communist Dong Khoi policy (Phong trào Đồng khởi).
Khmer Krom ancestral land left over after the confiscation made by the Ngo Din Diem regime was 95,500 sq-meters. In 1979, the communist regime in Andong Teuk district confiscated 29,000 sq-meters of land belonging to 6 families, including the land belonging to Mr. Huynh Nhek, Huynh Ba’s father.
