UPDATES TO ADD COMMENT FROM HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
By Bennett Murray
HANOI, Vietnam (AA) – Two Vietnamese men have been sentenced to prison for sharing material critical of the government, state media reported Wednesday.
Nguyen Huu Thien An, 21, and Nguyen Huu Quoc Duy, 31, were sentenced to two and three years respectively in a Nha Trang courtroom on charges of “propagandizing against the State of Vietnam” by sharing anti-government material on social media, reported the Vietnam News Agency.
An, who regularly browsed websites critical of the government according to the indictment, also reportedly drew a “reactionary” slogan on a police station’s wall in the coastal city of Nha Trang in April 2015.
The defendant had also reportedly been invited to a communications training workshop in Singapore hosted by the Viet Tan, a United States-based dissident organization banned in Vietnam.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, told Anadolu Agency that the convictions were clear violations of freedom of expression.
“It’s pathetic that Vietnam’s authoritarians feel so insecure in their rule that they can’t tolerate being cussed at on the Internet,” said Robertson.
Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party takes a hard stance against dissent, with opposition political parties banned and activists periodically jailed.
Under Article 88 of the penal code, a vaguely defined provision banning “anti-state propaganda” commands a jail term of up to 20 years.
In March 2016, activist blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh and his assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy were sentenced to five and three years respectively for running a popular website that frequently featured dissident writings.
