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| Vietnam jails prominent blogger for anti-state posts | Vietnam jails prominent blogger for anti-state posts |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| HANOI, Vietnam — A court in Hanoi sentenced a prominent Vietnamese blogger to five years in prison for posting anti-state writings in a one-day trial Wednesday that highlighted the communist country’s tough approach to dissent. | |
| Nguyen Huu Vinh, a former police officer and son of a late government minister, was convicted on a charge of abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state at the one-day trial Wednesday. | Nguyen Huu Vinh, a former police officer and son of a late government minister, was convicted on a charge of abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state at the one-day trial Wednesday. |
| Vinh’s assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy was given three years in prison on the same charge. The two had been in prison since their arrests in May 2014. | Vinh’s assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy was given three years in prison on the same charge. The two had been in prison since their arrests in May 2014. |
| Vinh, better known as Anh Ba Sam, quit police and set up a private investigation firm, and in 2007, opened up the Ba Sam blog. He later launched two others — Dan Quyen, or Citizens’ Rights, in 2013, and Chep Su Viet, or Writing Vietnamese History, in early 2014. The blogs provided links to news on political, social, economic and cultural issues from state media as well as activists. | |
| Prosecutors said the two blogs posted 2,397 articles and generated more than 3.7 million hits, and that 24 of the articles had “untruthful and groundless contents which tarnish the country’s image.” | |
| The two maintained their innocence throughout the trial. | |
| Thuy told the court that she did not know who authored the writings or who posted them on the two blogs and that she did not commit any crime. | |
| Their lawyers said there was no evidence against them. | |
| Presiding Judge Nguyen Van Pho said that the articles defendants posted “distort the lines and policies of the party and law of the state, vilify individuals.” He said the writings “present a one-sided and pessimistic view, causing anxiety and worry, and affecting the people’s confidence” in the party and government and “go against the interests of the nation.” | |
| Scores of Vinh’s supporters gathered outside the court chanting “innocent.” | |
| Foreign media and diplomats were allowed to follow the proceedings via circuit TV in a separate room. | |
| Their trial was originally scheduled for Jan. 19, but was postponed on the eve of the five-yearly congress of the ruling Communist Party, which elected the country’s new leaders. | |
| International human rights groups and Western governments including the United States have criticized Vietnam for jailing dissidents. Hanoi denies that, saying only those who break the law are put behind bars. | |
| U.S. officials have said Vietnam has made some progress in its human rights record with less arrests, but more needs to be done if the ccountry wants to expand ties with its former foes. | |
| Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for the release of both defendants. | |
| Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |