JURIST - Paper Chase: Vietnam rights lawyers sentenced for pro-democracy activities

[JURIST] Two Vietnamese human rights lawyers were sentenced Friday for violating Article 88 of the Vietnamese criminal code by advocating that Vietnam [JURIST news archive] adopt a multi-party system of government. Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan were arrested [JURIST report] in February after they hosted a training session on human rights law. Dai, who said he rejected the four-hour trial as "not right," received a five-year sentence plus an additional four years of probation. Nhan was sentenced to four years in jail and three years probation.

Both lawyers denied the prosecution's allegations that they worked with overseas pro-democracy groups and a Catholic priest who received an eight-year prison sentence [JURIST report] in March for communicating with pro-democracy activists and distributing anti-government documents. AP has more.

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