Vietnam arrests dissident writer, schedules trial for two others

The Associated Press
Monday, April 23, 2007

HANOI, Vietnam: Vietnamese authorities have arrested a dissident writer and scheduled a trial for two other dissidents accused of spreading anti-government propaganda, state media and officials said Monday.

Hanoi human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai, 38, and Le Thi Cong Nhan, 28, are scheduled to go on trial May 11, said an official at the Hanoi People's Court, who was not authorized to give his name.

Meanwhile, the communist-party newspaper Nhan Dan (The People) reported Monday that Hanoi police had arrested Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, 47, a novelist and journalist.

Thuy had been honored recently by New York-based Human Rights Watch, which gave her one of its Hellman/Hammett awards, granted to dissident writers for showing "courage in the face of political persecution."

Authorities have accused Thuy of violating Article 88 of Vietnam's criminal code, which broadly prohibits distributing information harmful to the state, Nhan Dan reported.

Police said Thuy was a member of the 8406 bloc, a pro-democracy group that circulated human rights petitions in Vietnam last year, the paper reported. They also accused her of organizing an independent trade union and supporting a dissident human rights commission.

Vietnam's communist government, which does not tolerate challenges to its one-party rule, has been cracking down on dissidents recently.

Dai and Nhan, the Hanoi human rights lawyers, were arrested on March 6 and accused of disseminating propaganda intended to undermine the state, an offense that carries a jail term of up to 12 years.

State media have accused Dai of collaborating with "reactionary elements" in exile to help set up an independent trade union; posting anti-government writings on the Internet; and illegally opening classes on democracy and human rights for young university students.

Last month, a court in central Thua Thien Hue province sentenced Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly to eight years in prison for disseminating anti-government propaganda. Four of Ly's associates were also sentenced, one to a six-year term.

They were convicted of working with Vietnamese exiles to establish an independent political organization.

Vietnam maintains that it holds no political prisoners in Vietnam, but only sentences those who break the law.