Three more dissidents jailed in Vietnam
HANOI: Three Vietnamese activists were jailed at separate trials yesterday in the oneparty state where a conservative leadership is accused of mounting an aggressive campaign against critics in recent months.
The sentences follow a spate of harsh jail terms handed down since last week, with seven activists from the Brotherhood for Democracy ( BFD) collective convicted for attempting to overthrow the state.
Three more dissidents were put behind bars yesterday, including Tran Thi Xuan, who was sentenced to nine years on charges of subversion, according to the state-run Vietnamnet news site.
Xuan, a member of the outlawed BFD network, was accused of receiving US$ 7,500 from overseas ‘ terrorist and reactionary organisations’ for democracybuilding projects, the report said.
Her trial was not previously announced and her family and lawyers were not informed she was to be sentenced yesterday. She appeared in court with no attorneys.
Separately yesterday, Nguyen Viet Dung was jailed for seven years for ‘anti- state activity’ under Article 88 of the criminal code, which activists have said is vaguely worded and used to quell dissent.
He was found guilty after a swift two-hour trial in central Nghe An province.
“Dung was the only defendant so the trial was quick,” his lawyer Nguyen Kha Thanh told AFP.
Dung, who founded the banned Republican Party in Vietnam, has been in detention since September 2017.
He was involved in protests against Taiwanese steel firm Formosa which caused a massive fish kill in 2016, and has rallied for Vietnam’s maritime freedom in the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing claims most of.
The activist, who previously spent 15 months in jail, has also
Hanoi is clearly trying to destroy the network of dissidents who have raised the need for the government to reform governance and respect rights. Phil Robertson, HRW’s deputy director for Asia
called for multi-party democracy in a country where political parties are banned, along with independent media and civil society organisations.
Later, activist Vu Van Hung, another BFD member and former high school physics teacher, was given one year for “deliberately causing injury” in Hanoi.
He was arrested in January on the way to a gathering of fellow teachers, and had previously been involved in anti-China protests.
Human Rights Watch ( HRW) said jailing more dissidents is the ‘new normal’, slamming the latest convictions.
“Hanoi is clearly trying to destroy the network of dissidents who have raised the need for the government to reform governance and respect rights,” HRW’s deputy director for Asia Phil Robertson told AFP.
“The big question now is will the world demand action to stop this downward spiral or will Hanoi further tighten its control through fear and repression”.
Amnesty International says at least 97 prisoners of conscience are behind bars in Vietnam.
Critics say an administration in power since 2016 has shown little tolerance for criticism and has vigorously targeted dissidents. — AFP