Vietnam jails 6 democrats in a week
HANOI - A court in southern Vietnam sentenced an independent union activist and lawyer to five years in prison on Tuesday, the sixth pro-democracy activist to be sentenced in a week during a harsh crackdown on dissidents in the communist country.
Tran Quoc Hien, 42, received a three-year prison term for "conducting propaganda against the state" and two years for "disrupting security," according to Vu Phi Long, presiding judge in the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court.
"The total sentence is five years in prison. He pleaded guilty at the court and promised not to violate the law again," Judge Long said by telephone.
State-run media on Tuesday denounced Hien, who is the former director of Saigon Legal Consultancy, saying he has defamed the government "under the cover of 'fighting for democracy and human rights in Vietnam.' "
Hien was a member of the pro-democracy umbrella group Bloc 8406, which was formed last year, and had "visited hostile websites in 2006 to contact and exchange anti-government views with some hostile figures," reported Viet Nam Law newspaper.
He had also encouraged Vietnamese workers to hold unauthorized strikes, urged the repeal of a law stating that only government unions are legal and published internet articles "to slander and distort the policies of the [Communist] Party and the state," the newspaper said.
Last week, Vietnam sentenced five other activists linked to Bloc 8406, including lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, in a crackdown condemned by international diplomats.
A representative from the US embassy said last week's ruling against Dai and Nhan, also convicted of anti-state propaganda, was deeply troubling.
"This trial comes in the wake of the disturbing increase in the harassment, detention, arrests and convictions of individuals peacefully exercising their legitimate rights," said Ralph Falzone, second secretary at the US embassy in Hanoi.
"We call on the government of Vietnam to release these individuals and other political prisoners," Falzone said
A European diplomat also said the evidence in the dissident trials was weak and the sentences too hard.
"We consider that people should not be condemned for just peacefully expressing their views," the European diplomat said.
Vietnam's government released a statement Monday saying that the country respects human rights and supports democracy and freedom of speech, but reserves the right to prosecute those violating Article 88 of the country's penal code outlawing "propaganda" against the state.
"In Vietnam, no one is arrested due to their political or religious beliefs," the statement said. "Only those who have breached the law are punished."
Deutsche Presse Agentur - May 14, 2007.
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