Vietnam jails seven in first convictions for February unrest
HANOI - A Vietnamese court has jailed seven members of the Ede minority in the first convictions linked to a wave of
ethnic unrest which swept the central highlands in February, officials said Thursday.
The People's Court in the highland city of Buon Me Thuot handed down jail terms of between six and 11 years
after finding the seven guilty of "sabotaging national security", a court official told AFP.
Alleged ringleaders Y Rin Kpa and Y Nuen Bya were jailed for 10 and 11 years respectively at Wednesday's
trial, the first of a series of hearings due to be held in Dak Lak and the neighbouring provinces of Gia Lai and
Kontum, the official said.
Co-defendant Y Tom Mlo was jailed for eight years four months, Y Nok Mlo for eight years, Nay D'Ruk and Y
Phen Ksor for seven, and Y B'Hiet Nie Kdam for six.
Vietnam's communist authorities have repeatedly blamed US-based emigre groups for fomenting protests which
swept all four highland provinces in February, prompting an army crackdown and an exodus of refugees to
neigbouring Cambodia.
Protestors held huge demonstrations in the main towns and set up no-go zones in the countryside in what foreign
diplomats suggest was Vietnam's worst minority unrest for more than a decade, amid widespread anger among
indigenous people over a massive influx of ethnic Vietnamese settlers.
The government says the protests were an attempt to revive an armed opposition group -- the United Front for
the Liberation of Oppressed Races -- many of whose members fought beside US special forces during the
Vietnam War but which has been dormant since the early 1990s.
A ban on outsiders visiting the region imposed in February has now been partially lifted, but advocacy groups
allege the highlanders remain subject to systematic abuse and officials in neighboring Cambodia say about 10
refugees continue to cross the border each week.
In recent weeks Vietnam's communist authorities have stepped up their efforts to be seen to be addressing the
minorities' grievances.
During his first tour of the highlands since February's unrest earlier this month, communist party supremo Nong
Duc Manh -- a member of the Tay minority from Vietnam's northern highlands -- called for "strict punishment of
errant officials and party cadres".
Manh, the first non-ethnic Vietnamese ever to hold the country's top job, also demanded more measures from the
local authorities to ensure "solidarity between all ethnic groups".
Agence France Presse - September 27, 2001.
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