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| Police and security staff outside the main gate of Prey Nokor (Ho Chi Minh City)'s People's Court, where three bloggers were tried, convicted and sentenced Monday. |
The cases against the two men and one woman are some of the highest-profile being undertaken by the country's Communist rulers as they escalate their campaign against bloggers and other pro-democracy activists.
One of the defendants' lawyers, Ha Huy Son, says the three were found guilty of writing online articles "opposing the government" by a court in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday. He says Nguyen Van Hai got 12 years, Ta Phong Tan received 10 and Phan Thanh Hai got four years.
U.S. President Barack Obama recently mentioned the case of Nguyen Van Hai, who wrote under the pen name Dieu Cay, in a speech that called for greater freedom for media around the world. Mr. Hai was critical of the government for its handling of tensions with neighboring China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
In late July, Ms. Tan's mother self-immolated outside a government office to protest the treatment of her daughter. Ms. Tan, a former police officer, wrote a blog called "Justice and Truth" that criticized alleged police abuse of power.
The three bloggers belong to the "Free Journalists Club," a group of citizen journalists who post their work on the Internet.
Before the verdict, international rights groups condemned the trial and called for the release of the defendants.
"Vietnam's arbitrary use of vaguely worded national-security laws to imprison critics of the government means bloggers are bearing the brunt of this assault on freedom of expression," Brad Adams, Asia director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
source: AP-Sept 24,2012
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