Vietnam to put 3 activists on trial
HANOI - Vietnam will put three pro-democracy activists on trial Thursday for spreading subversive propaganda, the first of two trials scheduled this week as part of an ongoing crackdown against dissidents.
The three are accused of collaborating with Cong Thanh Do, a Vietnamese emigre from San Jose, Calif., who was expelled from Vietnam in September after authorities accused him of plotting against the Communist government.
Going on trial in the Ho Chi Minh City People's court are Le Nguyen Sang, 48; Huynh Nguyen Dao, 39; and Nguyen Bac Truyen, 39.
They are accused of violating Article 88 of Vietnam's criminal code, which broadly prohibits disseminating information harmful to the state. Vietnamese prosecutors say the three used the Internet to spread their ideas.
On Friday, two well-known Hanoi human rights lawyers, Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, will go on trial on similar charges.
In recent weeks, authorities have stepped up their campaign to suppress dissent, which had eased up while Vietnam was seeking entrance into the World Trade Organization and hosting a major international summit last year.
A court sentenced dissident Catholic priest Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly to eight years in prison in March after convicting him of working with overseas democracy activists to establish an independent political organization.
Another dissident is scheduled to go on trial next week.
Tran Quoc Hien, 42, is accused of spreading propaganda against the state and disrupting public security. Authorities say he was a member of Bloc 8406, an organization that wrote a pro-democracy manifesto and circulated pro-democracy petitions in Vietnam last year.
Vietnamese media have reported that Hien is also accused of organizing anti-government demonstrations.
The Associated Press - May 10, 2007.
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