Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Vietnam Political Bloggers Jailed for ‘Abusing Freedom’ – Lawyer

Blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh

Reuters, 23/03 13:27 CET

HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam jailed a well-known political blogger and his assistant on Wednesday for abusing democratic freedom, their lawyer said, in a verdict that stirred public interest and a mix of concern and criticism from rights groups and the United States.

Blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh and assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy were imprisoned for five and three years respectively for posts that a Hanoi court said were abuses of their freedom and infringements upon state interests. Both had denied any connection with the blogs.

Vietnam has been widely rebuked for its tough moves to curb online dissent as public appetite for the Internet soars and Web users turn to blogs to read about issues that state-controlled media avoids.

Lawyer Ha Huy Son said the ruling was unfair and the pair would likely appeal. 

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Source: Euronews

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