Three Vietnam labour activists on trialAFP – 10/26/2010A founder of an independent trade union and two other labour activists went on trial in Vietnam Tuesday charged with disrupting security, a court official said. Doan Huy Chuong, Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, and Do Thi Minh Hanh, are on trial in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, said the official who declined to be named. "A verdict is going to be issued Wednesday," she said. "The accused have not asked for defence lawyers." US-based Human Rights Watch said the trio, all in their twenties, were arrested in February for distributing anti-government leaflets and helping workers to organise strikes for better pay. Chuong was earlier arrested in October 2006 after helping to found the United Workers-Farmers Organization (UWFO), which Vietnam has banned. He was later sentenced to 18 months' jail by a court in southern Dong Nai province for "spreading distorted information to undermine the state," government-controlled media reported at the time. Vietnam bans labour unions that are independent of the ruling Communist Party. The charge of disrupting security is punishable by between two and 15 years in prison upon conviction.
Vietnam Human Rights Network |