| 'Pro-democracy' human rights lawyers jailed in Vietnam |
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May 11.- A court in Vietnam sentenced two human rights lawyers to up to five years in prison today, bringing to five the number of activists convicted this week in the country's latest crackdown on dissent. Nguyen Van Dai was sentenced to five years and Le Thi Cong Nhan to four years for advocating a multiparty state in Vietnam, where the ruling communist party does not tolerate challenges to its rule. Dai must also serve four years of probation after his release from jail. Nhan must serve three years probation. Prosecutors said Dai, 38, and Nhan, 28, had violated article 88 of Vietnam's criminal code, which broadly prohibits spreading propaganda against the government. During the four-hour trial in the Hanoi People's Court, prosecutors said Dai and Nhan had collaborated with overseas pro-democracy advocates and used the internet to advance their views. They also accused the defendants of working with Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, a dissident Catholic priest who was sentenced to eight years in prison in March. ... [ full text ] |
