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Vietnamese Political Activists Convicted

   VOA News 20 January 2010
   From  left to right : Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Nguyen Tien Trung, Le Thang
   Long  and Le Cong Dinh listen to the verdict at a court in Ho Chi Minh
   City, Vietnam, 20 Jan 2010

Photo: AP

   From  left to right : Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Nguyen Tien Trung, Le Thang
   Long  and Le Cong Dinh listen to the verdict at a court in Ho Chi Minh
   City, Vietnam, 20 Jan 2010

   A   Vietnamese  court  has  convicted  four  political  dissidents  of
   subversion and sentenced them to up to 16 years in prison.
   The  four  went on trial in Ho Chi Minh City Wednesday for taking part
   in  "activities  aimed  at  overthrowing the people's administration,"
   including  promoting  a multiparty state and collaborating with exiled
   Vietnamese pro-democracy groups.
   U.S.-educated  human  rights  lawyer   Le  Cong Dinh and Le Thang Long
   received  five-year  sentences  after  the  one-day  trial.   A  third
   defendant,  Nguyen  Tien  Trung, received a seven-year sentence, while
   Internet entrepreneur Tran Huynh Duy Thuc was sentenced to 16 years in
   jail.
   Human  rights  groups say the trial is being motivated by politics, as
   Vietnam's  Communist  Party  leaders  prepare for next year's national
   congress.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AF.

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