Vietnam activist jailed for ‘anti-state’ charge

HANOI: A Vietnamese activist was jailed for nine years yesterday for “anti-state activity”, her lawyer said, the second such heavy sentence handed down by the authoritarian state in less than a month. Dissidents, rights lawyers and bloggers are routinely jailed in the communist country but rights groups and activists accuse the new government in place since last year of waging a particularly harsh crackdown on its critics. Anti-China activist Tran Thi Nga, 40, was sentenced after a one-day trial in a heavily guarded courthouse in northern Ha Nam province, where dozens of supporters gathered outside, some holding signs calling for her release.