A court jailed a prominent social commentator for five years yesterday for anti-state activities, his lawyer and state media said, among dozens of activists that rights groups say are being persecuted for criticising the government.
Le Van Dung, 51, was convicted of conducting propaganda against the state of Vietnam, lawyer Ha Huy Son said, in a trial that lasted only a few hours. Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and tolerates little criticism.
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