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Vietnam jails writer for 4 years for 'propaganda' HANOI — A Vietnamese court handed a four-year jail term to a writer on Friday for anti-state "propaganda", a court official said, the latest in a string of jailings of democracy activists by the communist state. The conviction came despite a last-minute appeal by three US legislators for Pham Thanh Nghien's release. She was ordered to spend three years under house arrest after her time in prison, said the court official, who declined to be named. Nghien, 32, was convicted and sentenced at a trial lasting less than a day in the northern port city of Haiphong. Rights activists have said that Penal Code Article 88, which was used against her, criminalises peaceful dissent. Before the trial her lawyer, Tran Vu Hai, said Nghien was accused in connection with a request she made to authorities in 2008 to hold a demonstration against inflation. She was further accused of staging a sit-in at her house with a banner protesting at Vietnam's handling of maritime relations with China and of posting a picture of her action on the Internet, he said. Foreign journalists and diplomats were not permitted to attend the trial. "I am very disappointed with this verdict, which is too heavy," Nghien's lawyer said, adding the writer had already expressed a wish to appeal. "Before the court, she only acknowledged her acts but did not acknowledge her offence." Nghien's mother, Nguyen Thi Loi, said she was not granted permission to attend the trial. She called the verdict too harsh and said her daughter was not guilty. "She talked about this offence a lot with the police, who judged her to be 'reactionary'," the mother said. Last year Nghien received Human Rights Watch's Hellman/Hammett award for writers who have been targets of political persecution. Nghien was arrested in late 2008 -- about the same time as nine other dissidents also charged with propaganda against the state were also arrested. Appeals courts have upheld jail terms against all nine. Another writer, Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, whom the US embassy said was "beaten and arrested" after publicly expressing support for those activists, is expected to face trial on February 5 in Hanoi, a court source said. Thuy won a Hellman/Hammett award in 2007. Ahead of the trials, three US legislators wrote to President Nguyen Minh Triet saying charges against both women appeared "seriously flawed". Senator Barbara Boxer and Representatives Loretta Sanchez and Zoe Lofgren wrote: "It is time for Vietnam to allow its citizens to fully exercise the internationally recognised rights of freedom of assembly, expression, association and religion without fear of retribution from their government." Last week a court in Ho Chi Minh City jailed four democracy activists for between five and 16 years for trying to overthrow the regime, in a case criticised by the European Union, the United States and Britain. Some observers see a link between the cases and next year's Communist Party Congress, at which high-ranking leadership posts will be determined, while one analyst said "law and order advocates" may be gaining ground among the authorities.
Vietnam Human Rights Network |