Vietnam Convicts 3 Bloggers for Anti-Government Posts

Posted September 24th, 2012 at 6:40 am (UTC-5)
Leave a comment

Vietnam has sent three bloggers to prison for spreading “propaganda against the state” by posting on the Internet their writings about human rights abuses, corruption and foreign policy.

The defendants – two men and a woman – were sentenced Monday in Ho Chi Minh City, following a trial that lasted a few hours.

U.S. President Barack Obama mentioned blogger Nguyen Van Hai, who received a 12-year sentence, in a speech earlier this year. Ta Phong Tan, a former police officer whose mother set herself on fire to protest her daughter's plight, was given 10 years in prison. Phan Thanh Hai was given a four-year sentence.

The United States quickly criticized the sentences.

International rights groups have condemned the trial and called for the release of the bloggers.