Two Vietnamese jailed for anti-State smear campaign

HA NOI — Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan were sentenced to five years and four years in prison, respectively, for "disseminating slanderous and libellous information against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam," violating Article 88 of the 1999 Criminal Code.
Dai, 38, will also serve four years of probation, and Nhan, three years, following their release, the Ha Noi People’s Court ruled.
According to the indictment handed down by the Ha Noi People’s Procuracy, Dai and Nhan had, from 2006 to the day they were arrested, used the Thien An Lawyers office run by Dai to draft, archive, and circulate documents biased against the Vietnamese State.
Dai was also found to have held courses through which he spread libellous and distorted news against the State and through which he recruited members for illegal organisations established by anti-Government elements, including groups so-called 21st Century Democracy Party, Viet Nam Progress Party and Block 8406.
The court also found that Dai and Nhan had done a great deal of harm to national security and to the accomplishments the entire nation has attained through hardship and war. Their behaviour degraded the prestige of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the socialist regime, the court concluded.
Attorneys Tran Lam from the Hai Phong Bar Association and Dam Van Hieu of the Ha Noi Bar Association who defended Dai and Nhan failed to present the court with any convincing new evidence.