Vietnam jails blogger for 'abusing' freedoms
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A court in central Vietnam sentenced a former journalist-turned-political blogger to two years in jail after a half-day trial yesterday.
Truong Duy Nhat was found guilty of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state” under Article 258 of the penal code.
He denied the charges, his lawyer Tran Vu Hai said.
“I wanted them [the prosecution] to clearly define what is the interest of the state. They answered it was the prestige of the party, the policy of the party that had been distorted,” Hai said.
Lawyer Hai said according to the constitution, the state is owned by the people and for the people, and there is no mention of the interests of the Communist Party.
“I told them I will submit a petition to President Truong Tan Sang saying they do not understand the constitution,” he added.
Nhat, who was 49 years old at the time of his arrest in May, wrote the blog “Another Point of View”, through which he posted several articles critical of Vietnam's top leaders.
He was arrested at his home in Da Nang city shortly after posting an article calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong.
Activists posted online photographs of bloggers and journalists gathered outside the court in Da Nang to show their support.
“There were many policemen surrounding the court and no one was allowed to enter the courtroom except his wife and children,” one of the bloggers, who writes under the name Me Nam, said.
“The sentence for Mr Nhat will be a warning for others who use blogs and Facebook to speak out against government policy and leaders of the party and the country,” she said.
