Han var kritisk til bauksittgruvedrift i det sentrale høylandet i Vietnam, og den 13. juni 2009 ble han arrestert av det vietnamesiske sikkerhetspolitiet[1], som hevdet at han hadde krenket «den nasjonale sikkerheten». Det internasjonale samfunnet protesterte kraftig mot arrestasjonen.[2] Lê Công Định ble i 2009 oppført på Amnesty Internationals liste over samvittighetsfanger.[3][1]
I 2010 ble Le Cong Dinh dømt til fem års fengsel i det Amnesty International karakteriserte som en parodi på en rettergang («a mockery of justice»).[4]
^«Vietnamese dissidents’ trial a mockery of justice». Amnesty International (på engelsk). 20. januar 2010. Besøkt 14. januar 2025. «The court convicted Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, 43, a former internet company owner and businessman, to 16 years’ imprisonment and five years of house arrest upon release. IT engineer and blogger Nguyen Tien Trung, 26, was sentenced to seven years in prison, while prominent lawyer Le Cong Dinh, 41, and businessman Le Thang Long, 42, each received five year sentences. | Last month, the prosecution decided to change the original charges from Article 88, “conducting propaganda” against the state, to the more serious Article 79, “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration.” | “The trial made a complete mockery of justice, disregarding fundamental human rights such as the principle of presumption of innocence and the right to defense”, said Brittis Edman. | The prosecution gave no evidence to support the indictment, and the judges deliberated for only 15 minutes before returning with the judgment, which took 45 minutes to read and clearly had been prepared in advance of the hearing.»