May 16, 2013
A court in southern Vietnam on Thursday sentenced two young activists to several years in prison for distributing “anti-government” leaflets, in a trial relatives and rights groups condemned as unfair and aimed at silencing dissent in the one-party state.
University student Nguyen Phuong Uyen, 21, was sentenced to six years in prison, while computer repairman Dinh Nguyen Kha, 25, was given eight years in prison that will be added to a previous two-year sentence from a separate case.
The Long An provincial court found them guilty of spreading “propaganda against the state” over leaflets they had handed out in Ho Chi Minh City last year while protesting against China’s claims to islands in the South China Sea.
They were convicted under Article 88 of the penal code, a provision rights groups say the government has used to muzzle dissent, and both will serve three years of house arrest following their prison terms.
Read more: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/leaflets-05162013153000.html
