May 17, 2013
HANOI – The US on Friday called for the release of two Vietnamese activists jailed for distributing anti-government leaflets, saying their case highlights a “disturbing trend” of authorities muzzling dissent.
University student Nguyen Phuong Uyen, 21, was jailed for six years, while computer technician Dinh Nguyen Kha, 25, was imprisoned for eight years by a court in southern Long An province on Thursday.
The pair will serve three more years under house arrest once they are released, their lawyer told AFP Thursday.
“These convictions are part of a disturbing trend of Vietnamese authorities using charges under national security laws to imprison government critics for peacefully expressing their political views,” the US Embassy in Hanoi said in a statement.
“We call on the government to release prisoners of conscience and allow all Vietnamese to peacefully express their political views,” it added.
The men were accused of distributing anti-government leaflets which “humiliated the administration” and called for demonstrations against the regime, according to a copy of the indictment which was posted online.
The charges, which carry a maximum 20-year sentence, are routinely laid against dissidents in authoritarian Vietnam, where the ruling Communist Party forbids all political debate.
Dozens of activists have been jailed since the one-party state began a new crackdown on free expression in late 2009.
This year alone, at least 38 activists have been convicted of anti-state activity under what rights groups say are vaguely defined articles of the penal code.
Vietnam bans private media and all newspapers and television channels are state-run. Lawyers, bloggers and activists are regularly subject to arbitrary arrest and detention, according to rights groups.
Source: Asiaone