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: JURIST - The Paper Chase

Vietnam court sentences pro-democracy advocate for subversion

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

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[JURIST] A Vietnamese court on Monday sentenced pro-democracy dissident Tran Anh Kim to five and a half years in prison for subversion under Article 79 of the Vietnamese penal code. During a four-hour trial Kim admitted being to member of the banned groups Democracy Party of Vietnam and Bloc 8406. He could have faced the death penalty for the crime, but was given leniency due to a history of military service. Kim is one of five dissidents arrested in June and July by Vietnam's communist government. The remaining suspects, including prominent Vietnamese pro-democracy lawyer Le Cong Dinh, are expected to go on trial on January 20. Dinh was charged with "colluding with foreign reactionaries to sabotage the Vietnamese State," in violation of Article 88 of the Vietnamese penal code, for the alleged distribution of anti-government documents. He was also disbarred following his arrest. Earlier this year, two Vietnamese newspaper editors were dismissed from their jobs for protesting the arrests of two journalists who reported on government corruption. The arrested reporters, who were accused of 'abusing freedom and democracy,' were sentenced to two years of prison and "re-education" for reporting on the so-called PMU 18 corruption scandal.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 28, 2009 (boomark / email).