Lawyer Le Cong Dinh, who was arrested on June 13 for allegedly engaging in subversive activities against the Vietnamese State, has confessed to his law-breaking activities, expressed his repentance and asked for the State’s clemency.

In his written statement to the investigation agency of the Ministry of Public Security on June 17, Dinh admitted he attended a training course held by an overseas Vietnamese terrorist group and joined a plot to form two more parties, aiming to replace Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party.

The layer confessed to violating Article 88 of Vietnam’s Penal Code by taking part in a non-violent training course held by the Viet Tan group from March 1-3 in Pattaya , Thailand .

On the recommendation of Nguyen Tien Trung, Dinh joined the “Vietnam Democratic Party” headed by Nguyen Sy Binh (leader of a US-based reactionary organisation and head of the People’s Action Party), who invited him to be on the executive board of this “democratic party”.

On March 26, Dinh travelled to Phuket, Thailand, to meet Binh and Tran Huynh Duy Thuc to discuss a plan to establish two more parties named the Vietnam Labour Party and the Vietnam Social Party, so as to recruit more members to their cause.

In Vietnam, Dinh launched an anti-government blog, in which he planned to announce the establishment of the “Vietnam Labour Party”, but he had not completed writing and posting the document when he was arrested.

His activities with the “Vietnam Democratic Party” included the refining of the wording of its statutes. Binh also handed Dinh a copy of the “New Constitution” for reference in preparation for the compilation of a constitution for the party.

In his report, Dinh admitted that his activities had violated Vietnamese law and expressed his regret for his wrongdoings as well as his hope for forgiveness.