Criminal law is internal legal affair of an independent country

The Penal Code (or criminal law) is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people. Most criminal law is established by statute, which is to say that the laws are enacted by a legislature. It includes the punishment of people who violate these laws. Criminal law varies according to jurisdiction, and differs from civil law, where emphasis is more on dispute resolution and victim compensation than on punishment. It is a measure to protect and promote the security and order of each country. Every independent nation has its own penal code, and it is totally an internal legal affair of that country, no others have rights to intervene into this matter.

In Vietnam, criminal law constitutes one of the sharp and effective instruments to prevent and combat crime, actively contributing to the defense of independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland, the protection of the interests of the State as well as the legitimate rights and interests of citizens and organizations. It also contributes to the maintenance of social order and security and economic management order and provides security for all people to live in a safe, healthy and highly humane social and ecological environment. At the same time the criminal law actively contributes to doing away with elements which obstruct the process of renewal and national industrialization and modernization for a prosperous people, a strong country and an equitable and civilized society.

This Penal Code has been made on the basis of inheriting and promoting the principles and institutions of Vietnam's criminal legislation, particularly the 1985 Penal Code, as well as experiences drawn from the reality of the struggle to prevent and combat crimes over many decades of the process of national construction and defense.

 The Penal Code demonstrates the spirit of active prevention and resolute combat against crimes through penalties in order to deter, educate, convert and reform offenders into honest people; thereby to imbue every citizen with the spirit and sense of being masters of the society, the sense of law observance and active participation in crime prevention and combat. To strictly implement the Penal Code is the common task of all agencies, organizations and the entire population.

Unfortunately, many other states and international organizations have claimed themselves of that rights and commented about the Vietnamese Penal Code with wrong, distorted and misunderstood judgements. They suppose that  Vietnam is using vague national security laws to stifle dissent and arrest critics. According to them, these include “activities aiming to overthrow the people’s administration” (penal code article 79, penalty up to death sentence); “undermining national unity policy” (article 87, penalty up to 15 years in prison); “conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” (article 88, penalty up to 20 years); “disrupting security” (article 89, penalty up to 15 years); “fleeing abroad or stay abroad to oppose the people’s government” (article 91, penalty up to life sentence); and “abusing rights to democracy and freedom to infringe upon the interests of the State and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and citizens” (article 258), “causing public disorder” (article 245).

And, it is more unreasonable that they have called and appealed for aborting these articles. They should know that it is an internal legal affair of Vietnam’s State and people, no one could decide that instead.

The Penal Code has the tasks of protecting the socialist regime, the people's mastership, equality among people of various nationalities, the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of citizens and organizations, protecting the socialist law order, opposing all acts of criminal offense; at the same time educating people in the sense of law observance and struggle to prevent and combat crime.

 In order to carry out such tasks, the Penal Code defines crimes and the penalties for offenders. Let see those criminals who violated the Vietnamese Penal Code but are claimed as human rights activists by hostile forces and reactionary organizations abroad . They are Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh (known for blogger Mother of Mushroom) and many others like bloggers Nguyen Huu Vinh (known as Anh Ba Sam), Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, and Nguyen Dinh Ngoc (known as Nguyen Ngoc Gia) Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Bui Thi Minh Hang, radical priest Nguyen Van Ly; the musicians Tran Vu Anh Binh and Vo Minh Tri; so-called activists Dang Xuan Dieu, Ho Duc Hoa, and Nguyen Dang Minh Man; and the land protester Ho Thi Bich Khuong, Do Thi Minh Hanh, Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung and Doan Huy Chuong, etc who all violated the Penal Code as articles 88 that rules about crimes of conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for those who commit one of the following acts against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam shall be sentenced to between three and twelve years of imprisonment : a) Propagating against, distorting and/or defaming the people's administration; b) Propagating psychological warfare and spreading fabricated news in order to foment confusion among people; c) Making, storing and/or circulating documents and/or cultural products with contents against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Article 258 which rules about crimes of abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens for those who abuse the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of belief, religion, assembly, association and other democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens, shall be subject to warning, non-custodial reform for up to three years or a prison term of between six months and three years.

 And Article 89 that rules about crimes of disrupting security for those who intend to oppose the people's administration by inciting, involving and gathering many people to disrupt security, oppose officials on public duties, obstruct activities of agencies and/or organizations, which fall outside the cases stipulated in Article 82 of this Code, shall be sentenced to between five and fifteen years of imprisonment. According to this article, if we follow the situation of Formosa protests, those priests as Nguyễn Đình Thục and Đặng Hữu Nam in Song Ngọc and Phù Yên, Quỳnh Lưu commune in Nghệ An province must be judged for inciting people to protest which deterred the traffic and caused chaos and instabilities that of course disrupted the national security.

In recent years, Vietnam’s National Assembly has always sought to reform the criminal law to respect basic rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion, but those who do not understand the Vietnam’s background and real situation and those who hold hostile and prejudice thoughts about Vietnam should step aside and let the Vietnamese State and government do their jobs. Because building and revising laws are internal affairs of an independent country as Vietnam./.