One-day trial, 20-year term for Vietnamese activist

A COURT in northern Vietnam yesterday sentenced an activist to 20 years in prison after he was convicted in a one-day trial of attempting to overthrow the state, his lawyer said.

The People’s Court in Nghe An province also sentenced Le Dinh Luong, 53, to five years’ house arrest to be served after his prison term, lawyer Ha Huy Son said.

“The court charged him with activities ‘aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration’, but they didn’t have sufficient evidence,” Son said.

“Luong didn’t plead guilty at the trial, and he will appeal against the verdict,” he said.

Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and does not tolerate criticism.

State media cited the police in the province as saying Luong was a “dangerous” member of the US-based human rights group Viet Tan, which Vietnam regards as a “terrorist” body.

Luong encouraged people to boycott a National Assembly election in 2016, incited protests against Taiwanese steel firm Formosa and wrote posts on his Facebook account that expressed views against the party and the state, reported the state-run Nghe An newspaper.

New York-based Human Rights Watch late last month called on Vietnam to drop charges against Luong, saying the charges were politically motivated.