Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hang and 4 accomplices are on trial.

This morning (September 21), the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City tried Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hang (General Director of Dai Nam Joint Stock Company) for the crime of "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the rights and interests of individuals" under Clause 2, Article 331 of the Penal Code.

According to records at 6 o'clock, there were two cars carrying prisoners led by traffic police driving into the court.

The representative of the Procuracy agreed with the court on the status of the participants in the proceedings.

In addition to the presence of the 5 defendants, people with related rights and obligations Vy Oanh, Truong Thi Viet Ha, Dam Vinh Hung, Dang Thi Han Ni, and Mr. Nguyen Dinh Kim were present at the trial.

Artist Hoai Linh, journalist Duc Hien, Ms. Le Thi Giau, Mr. Huynh Uy Dung, singer Thuy Tien and Cong Vinh were absent and submitted requests to be tried in absentia.

According to the presiding judge, the absent cases had been properly served by the court and had a request for trial in absentia, so they did not fall under the category of adjournment of the trial, so the case was tried normally.

At the beginning of the trial, the lawyer defending journalist Duc Hien said that before the trial, Mr. Hien had sent a complaint to the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City regarding the determination of his eligibility to participate in the proceedings. The court then issued a written response, but Mr. Hien did not agree, so he continued to complain about the content of the response to the complaint.

Lawyer Nguyen Thanh Cong (defending journalist Duc Hien) is still waiting for the response to the complaint from the Chief Justice of the High People's Court, so he requested to postpone the trial. If the panel of judges re-determines Mr. Hien as the victim, Mr. Hien's side will agree to continue the trial.

Sharing the same view, lawyer Truong Anh Tu requested the panel of judges to immediately resolve the issue of determining the legal status of those involved in the trial.

Lawyers defending those with rights and obligations related to the case also support the view that the panel of judges should change the procedural status of these people to victims right in the trial proceedings.

The representative of the Procuracy agreed with the view of the Panel of Judges that the consideration of the eligibility to participate in the proceedings belongs to the authority of the Panel of Judges. The eligibility to participate in the proceedings of the people involved will be expressed by the Panel of Judges through the verdict.

The prosecutor said the defendants were prosecuted under Article 331, so the subject of this crime is administrative management order. If the people involved are re-identified as victims, it will fall under another crime.

Due to a request to postpone the trial, the panel of judges stopped the trial to deliberate.

Ms. Hang's accomplices also being tried for the above crime include: Nguyen Thi Mai Nhi (Ms. Hang's assistant), Le Thi Thu Ha (employee of Dai Nam Joint Stock Company), Huynh Cong Tan (head of communications department of Dai Nam Joint Stock Company), Dang Anh Quan (PhD in law, lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law).

Police escorted Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hang and her accomplices to court.

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hang appeared in court after 18 months of detention.

Except for Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hang and Mr. Dang Anh Quan, who were escorted by police from Chi Hoa Detention Center, the remaining defendants came to court on their own because they were released on bail.

The trial was presided over by Judge Bui Duc Nam, with Nguyen Tuan Anh as the alternate judge. The representatives of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Procuracy holding the right to prosecute were Dinh Quoc Dung, Nguyen Quang Duyet, and Vo Thanh Du.

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hang has one defense attorney, Mr. Ho Nguyen Le. The defense attorneys for Mr. Dang Anh Quan are Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Lam, Mr. Nguyen Tri Thang, and Ms. Le Thi Quynh Anh.

Mr. Huynh Cong Tan, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Nhi, Ms. Le Thi Thu Ha were defended by lawyer Ho Nguyen Le.

Mr. and Mrs. Vo Nguyen Hoai Linh (artist Hoai Linh), Ms. Nguyen Thi My Oanh (singer Vy Oanh), Ms. Dang Thi Han Ni (former journalist - lawyer, master of law Han Ni), Mr. Huynh Minh Hung (singer Dam Vinh Hung), Ms. Tran Thi Thuy Tien (singer Thuy Tien) and her husband Le Cong Vinh, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hien (Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the newspaperHo Chi Minh City Law), Ms. Dinh Thi Lan, Ms. Le Thi Giau, Ms. Truong Viet Ha, Mr. Huynh Uy Dung (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dai Nam Joint Stock Company), Mr. Nguyen Dinh Kim were summoned to attend the trial as people with related rights and obligations.

The reason why Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hang insulted 10 individuals

According to the case file, Ms. Phuong Hang conducted many livestreams online, made statements with fabricated content, knowing that the information was untrue or unverified, and offended the reputation and honor of 10 individuals.

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hang presented to the investigation agency the reasons leading to the insult of the above individuals. Specifically:

Regarding artist Hoai Linh, Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hang said that artist Hoai Linh had a relationship with Mr. Vo Hoang Yen. When she asked Mr. Hoai Linh to speak up about Mr. Yen's fraudulent behavior, Hoai Linh remained silent.

Regarding singer Vy Oanh, Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hang said that in a comment on Vy Oanh's Facebook post, there was content that criticized Ms. Hang for donating land to support the fight against COVID-19.

Singer Vy Oanh and Dam Vinh Hung arrive at the trial of Ms. Phuong Hang

According to Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hang, Ms. Dang Thi Han Ni has repeatedly made statements on social networks insulting her personally and "sabotaging" Dai Nam Company and Hang Huu charity fund.

Regarding journalist Duc Hien, Ms. Hang said that Mr. Hien's interview on VOV accused Ms. Hang of a crime under Article 331 and that Mr. Hien had articles on his personal Facebook and YouTube that provided information that affected the interests of her and Dai Nam Company.

Regarding the reason for insulting singer Thuy Tien and Mr. Le Cong Vinh, Ms. Hang stated that it was because Thuy Tien's charity activities were not transparent and she embezzled charity from the people.

As for singer Dam Vinh Hung, Ms. Hang said that Dam Vinh Hung was close to artist Hoai Linh, when Ms. Hang made statements related to Hoai Linh, Dam Vinh Hung went online to make offensive statements about Ms. Hang first.

Regarding Ms. Dinh Thi Lan, Ms. Hang said that Ms. Lan livestreamed on YouTube channels "Dinh Lan 1", "Dinh Lan 2" and posted on social networks many clips with slanderous content, distorting the truth, defaming and insulting Ms. Hang's honor.

Ms. Hang also stated that the reason for insulting Ms. Le Thi Giau and Ms. Truong Viet Ha was because she believed that these two people were a group of people secretly organizing to sabotage Nguyen Phuong Hang and Dai Nam Company, and also created a Facebook page to share content insulting Ms. Hang.

Security at the trial was tightened.

Security around the court on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street (District 1) was tightened.

Many armed forces were mobilized to ensure security and order outside and inside the court.

According to records at 6am, two cars carrying prisoners were led by traffic police into the court.

Inside the building, security was tightened, many authorities strictly blocked the area, only those with official duties were allowed in and out.