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HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam has granted early release to two high-profile dissidents, bringing the number of democracy activists freed this month to three in what the government Monday called a “policy of leniency.”
The unusual moves come as Hanoi is negotiating a free trade deal with the United States that is expected to help Vietnam’s stumbling economy.
American officials have said the deal might not get congressional approval unless Vietnam’s government shows it is taking steps to improve its human rights record.
Vi Duc Hoi and Nguyen Tien Trung were released over the weekend with 1½ years and nine months remaining of their sentences respectively.
They were convicted of crimes relating to their peaceful advocacy of multiparty democracy in Vietnam, ruled by an authoritarian government that doesn’t allow freedom of expression or political assembly.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/vietnam-releases-dissidents-amid-us-trade-talks/2014/04/14/09b69266-c394-11e3-9ee7-02c1e10a03f0_story.html
