Vietnam jails six activists for up to 15 years for trying to 'overthrow state’
Group accused of carrying out human rights training and pushing for multi-party democracy

Agence France-Presse
Fri 6 Apr 2018 02.58 BST
Six Vietnamese activists have been jailed for between seven and 15 years for “attempting to overthrow the state”, the harshest sentences in years in the communist country.

The six, including prominent lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, who got 15 years in jail, were sentenced on Thursday after a one-day trial held under heavy security in Hanoi.
They are linked to the Brotherhood for Democracy activist group and were accused of carrying out human rights training, pushing for multi-party democracy and receiving funds from overseas.

“At the trial today, no evidence showing the defendants’ attempt at overthrowing the state was given,” lawyer Le Luan said. “The charge was very much groundless.”

Dai has long been a thorn in the side of the authorities. He served four years in prison in 2007 for anti-state activity.

Dai was arrested along with his assistant Le Thu Ha – who was sentenced to nine years on Thursday – in December 2015. The others – Pham Van Troi, pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, Truong Minh Duc and Nguyen Bac Truyen – have been in custody since July 2017. They were jailed for between seven and 12 years.

The one-party state routinely locks up lawyers, bloggers and dissidents, but critics say a conservative leadership in charge since 2016 is a waging a crackdown that has sent a chill throughout the dissident community. Amnesty International this week said there are at least 97 dissidents behind bars in Vietnam.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... hrow-state