my apologies for sending that as HTML
> -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [liberationtech] Vietnam jails activists over Digital Safety > training > From: <[email protected]> > Date: Thu, January 24, 2013 4:29 pm > To: "liberationtech" <[email protected]> > > > Sometimes training itself can land people in jail. > > > http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hd7cjg_LVU6bEwF9JYVLgrOC4n4w?docId=9e59403959734202ae0c86fca912a95e > > > > > Vietnam sentences 14 democracy activists to prison > (AP) – Jan 9, 2013 > HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A Vietnamese court found 14 democracy activists guilty > of subversion and sentenced them to jail terms ranging from three to 13 > years, verdicts which drew immediate criticism from the United States. > The long prison terms imposed Wednesday suggest that the Communist government > is intent on stepping up its ongoing crackdown on people who publicly > challenge its authoritarian, one-party rule. In recent years, the Internet > has emerged as a powerful tool for dissidents, alarming many in the ruling > elite at a time of economic uncertainty. > The defendants are linked to Viet Tan, a Vietnamese dissident group based in > the United States. Vietnam's government has labeled it a terrorist group, but > the U.S. government has said it has seen no evidence that it advocates > violence. > The People's Court in central Nghe An province sentenced three defendants to > 13 years during the two-day trial, defense lawyer Nguyen Thi Hue said. She > said 11 others received jail terms ranging from three to eight years. One of > the three-year terms was suspended. > The defendants, including 12 Catholics, were arrested in late 2011. > Another defense lawyer, Tran Thu Nam, said they were found guilty of > attending Viet Tan's overseas training courses on nonviolent struggle and > computer and Internet security. Some also protested against China's > territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea, a sensitive issue for > Vietnam because of the nationalist passion the issue provokes and Hanoi's > ideological ties with Beijing. > The United States wants closer ties with Vietnam because it sees it as a foil > against China, but Hanoi's human rights record is a barrier. In December, > human rights lawyer and blogger Le Quoc Quan was arrested. Last year, more > than a dozen activists were sentenced to long jail terms. > In Washington, the State Department said it was "deeply troubled" by > Wednesday's verdicts and was raising these and other cases with the > Vietnamese government. > "These convictions along with recent other detentions of a human rights > lawyer and other bloggers since December 27 are part of a very disturbing > human rights trend in Vietnam," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. > Earlier, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi called for immediate release of the 14 > activists and all other prisoners of conscience. > Viet Tan said citizen journalists in the town had been restricted by police > to their hotel rooms during the trial. > "These activists have tirelessly advocated for social justice, engaged in > citizen journalism and participated in peaceful demonstrations against > Chinese territorial encroachment," it said in a statement. "The Hanoi regime > has shown once again its fear of civil society. " > Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.<hr>-- > Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password at: > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech -- Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password at: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
