A Vietnamese doctor has been sentenced to four years in jail for “anti-state propaganda,” state media reported, as part of a fresh wave of convictions in the one-party state accused of waging a crackdown on critics.
Bloggers, activists and lawyers are routinely jailed in communist Vietnam, where a hardline leadership in place since 2016 is accused of tightening its grip on dissidents.
At least 24 activists were convicted last year, with another 28 arrested, Human Rights Watch said, making last year one of the worst years for activists in the nation.
The latest to be jailed is Ho Van Hai, 54, a doctor who was arrested in November 2016 over a series of blog posts criticizing the government.
He was sentenced to four years in prison after a one-day trial in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday, state-controlled VNExpress reported.
“Of the 75 articles posted online and stored in Hai’s computer, the authorities identified 36 articles that violated the regulation on management, provision and use of Internet services and information on the Internet,” the VnExpress report said.
Hai is also accused of calling for public protests against Taiwanese steel company Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp, which dumped toxic waste into the ocean killing tonnes of fish along Vietnam’s central coast in 2016.
The disaster hit livelihoods hard and sparked rare nationwide protests.
Hai is the fourth person jailed in Vietnam this week, after three men were convicted on Wednesday, also under Article 88 of the criminal code — anti-state propaganda, which rights groups say is vaguely worded and used to curb dissent.
Last month, four Buddhist activists were jailed on the same charge for flying the flag of the defeated southern regime loathed by the ruling communists.
The UN Human Rights Office for Southeast Asia called for Hai’s release after his arrest, criticizing Article 88, which runs “contrary to international human rights standards and should be repealed,” office acting representative Laurent Meillan said in November 2016.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was