‘I Was Under a Lot of Pressure And Had to Quit’
RFA -
03/04/2015
Lawyer Nguyen Thanh Luong has defended several prisoners of conscience in
Vietnam, including young activists Dinh Nguyen Kha and Nguyen Phuong Uyen, who
in 2013 successfully appealed their jail sentences for distributing
anti-government leaflets during a protest against China’s claims to islands in
the South China Sea. However, the rights attorney recently left his practice to
become a notary clerk. Mac Lam of RFA’s Vietnamese Service recently interviewed
him about why he gave up his profession.
Q: Can you tell us why you decided to quit your law career? Was it your
personal decision or did you receive some sort of official document forcing you
to do so?
A: There was no official document, but I was under a lot of pressure and I had
to quit. This was a choice of survival. This work suits my current situation. In
reality, the situation was not so pressing that I had to quit immediately, but
there are too many things to say about our society now.
Q: So there was no official document, but there was hidden pressure on you?
A: Yes, I can’t deny that. There are many reasons that I can’t explain to you at
this point. However, to answer your question, I was a lawyer for more than 20
years and now I had to quit. Nothing is simple.
Q: You have defended many famous prisoners of conscience … You knew that such
cases rarely win in Vietnam, but you defended them even though many people
thought they were hopeless. Why did you pursue such cases?
A: First of all, [the defendants] were on their own. In Vietnam, such cases are
related to national security and they are very sensitive—just like in political
cases, which many [lawyers] hesitate to participate in. But I felt [the
defendants] needed help and greater attention to seek justice in their cases.
These cases serve as measuring sticks for the progress of civilization, politics
and society, and they reveal things more clearly. In many of these cases, all
hope was lost and the outcome did not meet my expectations.
Q: If legal reforms are introduced in Vietnam that result in trials being
judged more fairly, would you be willing to return to your career as a lawyer?
A: Of course. That would be ideal. When there are specific changes—changes in
collective management principles and the one-party communist system, as well as
the introduction of checks and balances—they will promote the development of
society, and the working conditions for lawyers will be much better.