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Vietnamese court sends activists to jail

A Vietnamese court sentenced three pro-democracy activists to prison yesterday after convicting them of spreading subversive propaganda, as the communist country continued its latest crackdown against dissent.

The sentences were handed down a day after political prisoner Phan Van Ban was released from jail after serving 22 years.

Authorities said the three had collaborated with Cong Thanh Do, a Vietnamese emigre from San Jose, California, who was expelled from Vietnam in September after authorities accused him of plotting against the communist government.

Le Nguyen Sang was sentenced to five years, Nguyen Bac Truyen to four years and Huynh Nguyen Dao to three years.

They were found guilty of violating Article 88 of Vietnam's criminal code, which broadly prohibits disseminating information harmful to the state.

In an e-mailed statement, Do condemned the sentences, saying the defendants had committed no crimes.

"To advocate freedom of expression, to exercise freedom of association and to seek or exchange information by peaceful means are legal acts," Do said. "The Vietnam Communist Party has ignored these basic human rights."

Do, Sang, Truyen and Dao are members of The People's Democratic Party, which advocates a multiparty political system in Vietnam.

The US embassy in Hanoi said it was "deeply troubled" by the convictions.

"We're not aware of anything to indicate that these individuals were engaged in activities that conflict with their right to peaceful expression of political thought, widely recognized under international law," the statement said.

The convictions came in the wake of a "disturbing increase" in the harassment of dissidents, the embassy said.

"We call on the government of Vietnam to release these individuals and allow for the peaceful expression of political views without fear of recrimination," it said.

A day before the trial began, Hanoi released Ban -- a former policeman from the city of Dalat -- and allowed him to fly to the US to be reunited with his family.

Ban had been imprisoned since 1985 after he joined an organization calling for political change. He left Vietnam on Wednesday night and flew to the US, where he was to be reunited with a son, who is a US citizen.

"He was held in prison for more than 20 years after peacefully calling for political change in Vietnam," a statement from the US Embassy said. "We are pleased that Mr. Ban will soon be able to join his family in the United States."

Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet granted a pardon to Ban on April 25, citing his advancing age and desire to be reunited with his family, according to the Vietnam news agency. Ban was born in 1937.

Ban's release came amid an ongoing crackdown against dissidents in Vietnam.

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.

On Friday, two well-known Hanoi human rights lawyers, Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, will go on trial for spreading information intended to undermine the government.

Another dissident is scheduled to go on trial in Ho Chi Minh City 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.
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