[13] Trung was dismissed from the military on 6 July 2009 but then arrested the very next day and charged with violating the 88th article of Criminal Code, allegedly for "plotting to overthrow the government of Vietnam".

One day after Trung's arrest, Loretta Sanchez, member of the United States House of Representatives, officially protested the Vietnamese government's action in jailing the activists.

[16][17] Political analyst Carl Thayer from the University of New South Wales noted that charges of subversion are unsubstantiated while the real intent of the Communist authorities is to silence the dissidents.

[6] In connection with Nguyen Tien Trung detention, Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based international non-government organization, has released an official condemnation of the arrest, asserting that while the rest of the world has its attention on protests in Iran and the riots in Xinjiang, the Vietnamese Communist government had jailed a number of pro-democracy activists who had spoken out against the state even though their efforts have been peaceful.

The communiqué issued by Reporters Without Borders called on the international community to pressure the Vietnamese government to live up to its signatory status in respecting human rights.

[21] Other analysts asserted that the arrests of activists like Nguyen Tien Trung are part of Vietnam's synchronizing its policy with China's current repressive stance in silencing all protest.

The members of the Assembly of Vietnamese Youth for Democracy have been supporting Nguyen Tien Trung and others arrested for peaceful activism; so far their detentions have not resulted in charges or trial.

The Assembly has formally made another appeal to the government for the immediate and unconditional release of the arrested activists, on the grounds of respect for Vietnam's constitution and international conventions.