VIETNAM: Jailing of professor draws fire

14 August 2011

The US, France and a human rights group have strongly criticised the conviction of a French-Vietnamese maths professor who was sentenced to three years in a Vietnamese prison for belonging to a banned pro-democracy group and publishing an anti-Communist blog, reports CBS News.

Pham Minh Hoang (56), who holds dual citizenship, was found guilty last Wednesday of trying to overthrow the government by posting 33 articles criticising the one-party Communist system and of holding membership of the banned Viet Tan group and recruiting others to join it. It was the second high-profile dissident trial in just over a week.

US-based Viet Tan says it is a nonviolent advocate of democracy, but Hanoi considers it a terrorist organisation, a claim that US officials say they have not found any evidence to support.
Full report on the CBS News site

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