Published on Tuesday 20 November 2012. Updated on Wednesday 21 November 2012.
In yet another act of summary justice, a court in Dak Nong province took just 45 minutes today to confirm blogger Dinh Dang Dinh’s six-year jail sentence on appeal.
Reporters Without Borders is appalled by the decision and calls on the international community to react quickly.
“We urge Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, to condemn the latest sentences imposed on Vietnam’s cyber-dissidents and bloggers,” Reporters Without Borders said. “If this crackdown continues, there will soon be no one left to criticize the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in this country.”
During today’s hearing, which his wife and daughter were allowed to attend, Dinh insisted that he had “committed no crime” because he had just used his “right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
He also accused the police of pressuring him to sign a confession in February by telling him that he would thereby “secure a pardon and a reduced sentence.”
Read more: http://en.rsf.org/vietnam-court-to-begin-hearing-blogger-20-11-2012,43701.html
