Image copyright AFP Image caption Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, 48, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison

Six prominent Vietnamese activists have received heavy prison sentences on charges of "attempting to overthrow" the country's communist government.

Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai was sentenced to 15 years, while the other defendants were jailed for between seven and 12 years, relatives said on Thursday.

Several protesters who marched towards the court in Hanoi were taken away by plainclothes police.

Human rights groups have criticised the charges against the activists.

The convicted individuals are linked to the Brotherhood for Democracy, a self-described activist network.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Demonstrators holding placards marched towards the courthouse in Hanoi

In December 2015, having already served a previous four-year prison sentence, Nguyen Van Dai was arrested along with his assistant.

Although they were initially charged with producing anti-state propaganda, they were later accused of attempting to overthrow the state. The other four activists were arrested in July.

Nguyen Van Dai's wife told BBC Vietnamese of her "surprise and resentment" at the verdict and said her husband had defended himself "vigorously".

"Their defence in court show they were patriotic and peaceful. If the trial had lasted for another day, I think the prosecutors would be unable to keep on debating," Vu Minh Khanh said.

The court "had no evidence but they still tried to charge the defendants with crimes", she said.

"We were outraged. We the relatives cried after the trial ended and shouted it was an unfair trial."

The case has received widespread attention in Vietnam, which has strict censorship rules.

In a report released earlier this week, human rights campaign group Amnesty International described Hanoi as "one of South East Asia's most prolific jailers of peaceful activists", and said that at least 97 political prisoners were currently serving jail sentences across the country.

In January, three activists were sentenced to between six and eight years in prison for distributing propaganda against the state, while the popular environmental blogger known as Mother Mushroom was jailed on the same charges in 2017.</s>Six prominent Vietnamese activists have received heavy prison sentences on charges of "attempting to overthrow" the country's communist government.

Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai was sentenced to 15 years, while the other defendants were jailed for between seven and 12 years, relatives said on Thursday.

Several protesters who marched towards the court in Hanoi were taken away by plain clothes police, AFP reported.

Human rights groups have criticised the charges against the activists.

The convicted individuals are linked to the Brotherhood for Democracy, a self-described activist network.

In December 2015, having already served a previous four-year prison sentence, Nguyen Van Dai was arrested along with his assistant.

Although they were initially charged with producing anti-state propaganda, they were later accused of attempting to overthrow the state.

The other four activists were arrested in July.

The case has received widespread attention in Vietnam, which has strict censorship rules.

In a report released earlier this week, human rights campaign group Amnesty International described Hanoi as "one of Southeast Asia's most prolific jailers of peaceful activists" and said that at least 97 political prisoners were currently serving jail sentences across the country.

In January, three activists were sentenced to between six and eight years in prison for distributing propaganda against the state, while the popular environmental blogger known as Mother Mushroom was jailed on the same charges in 2017.</s>A Vietnamese court handed down prison sentences ranging from seven to 15 years to a lawyer and five other activists, who are members of the Brotherhood for Democracy organization, state media reported Friday.

The judge imposed the highest punishment on Nguyen Van Dai, 48, the lawyer who founded the group in 2013, considering him guilty of carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the communist regime, according to the Vietnam News agency.</s>A court in Hanoi opened trial Thursday of six activists accused of attempting to overthrow the government as communist authorities stepped up their crackdown on dissent.

Prominent human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai and five others are accused of affiliating with a pro-democracy group called the Brotherhood for Democracy, which prosecutors say works with foreign and domestic organisations to oppose the state, change the political system and eventually overthrow the government.

The six face the death penalty if convicted.

“The defendants have taken advantage of the fight for ‘democracy, human rights, civil society’ to conceal the … purpose of ‘the Brotherhood for Democracy,’” the official Vietnam News Agency quoted the indictment as saying.

Prosecutors determined that Dai was the mastermind behind the group, directly building its platform, recruiting new members and seeking finance from foreign organisations and individuals, which totalled more than US$80,000, it said.

International human rights groups have called for their release.

“Vietnam is one of Southeast Asia’s most prolific jailers of peaceful activists – a shameful title no one should aspire to,” James Gomez, Amnesty International’s director of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in statement.

He said that 97 prisoners of conscience “that we are aware of in the country are all brave women and men who have been robbed of their freedom for nothing but promoting human rights.”

Human Rights Watch put the number of people jailed for violating national security laws at 119.

Hanoi says there are no political prisoners in Vietnam and only law breakers are put behind bars.

Dai, a co-founder of the group, and another member were arrested in December 2015, initially accused of spreading anti-government propaganda while four other members were detained last July.

Dai and four others had previously been jailed for violating national security laws.

In 2007, Dai was sentenced to five years in prison for spreading propaganda against the government but got his jail term reduced to four years on appeals. His lawyer’s license was revoked.

Foreign press and diplomats were barred from the trial, which was expected to last two days.

A group of about a dozen supporters were blocked by uniformed and plain clothes police morning as they marched toward the courthouse in central Hanoi.</s>Human rights lawyer, and co-founder of the pro-human rights network Brotherhood for Democracy, Nguyen Van Dai, and his assistant, Le Thu Ha, had been detained without trial since December 2015.

Dai's lawyer Doan Thai Duyen Hai told news agency DPA as he left the tightly guarded Hanoi courtroom on Thursday that Dai was sentenced to 15 years in jail and five years under house arrest after the court found all six accused guilty of sedition. "These are very hard sentences," Hai said. "They noted our arguments, but did not accept them." Ha was given a nine-year jail sentence and two years under house arrest.

The other four accused, Truong Minh Duc, Nguyen Trung Ton, Pham Van Troi, and Nguyen Bac Truyen were arrested at their homes in July last year and had been kept in detention until the trial.

Duc and Ton were sentenced to 12 years in prison and three years under house arrest. Troi was given a seven-year prison term and Truyen 11 years in prison and three years under house arrest.

They were all accused of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's government," according to the indictment issued by the Supreme People's Procuracy in Hanoi last December. The charges included carrying out human rights training, calling for multi-party democracy and receiving funding from foreign groups.

The indictment, according to the state news agency, claimed: "The defendants have taken advantage of the fight for 'democracy, human rights, civil society' to conceal the ... purpose of 'the Brotherhood for Democracy.'"

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Since his arrest more than two years ago, 48-year-old Dai had not met with his lawyer. His wife had only been allowed three visits. "When I last met him, I think his spirit remained strong but he didn't look good... his hair has turned totally white," Vu Minh Khanh said, adding: "He's done nothing wrong."

"Im very disappointed with the trial and strongly protest it," she said after the trial. "He is innocent and he pleaded innocent at the trial. He will continue to fight and will appeal the verdict."

Prosecutors singled Dai out as the leader of the group, saying he was responsible for developing its platform, recruiting members and raising finance.

International rights organizations have condemned the detentions. James Gomez, Amnesty International's director of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in statement: "Vietnam is one of Southeast Asia's most prolific jailers of peaceful activists - a shameful title no one should aspire to."

Gomez said AI believes Vietnam is holding 97 prisoners of conscience "who have been robbed of their freedom for nothing but promoting human rights." Human Rights Watch puts the number at 119.

The government in Hanoi says there are no political prisoners in Vietnam. "In Vietnam there is no such thing as a 'prisoner of conscience', and there's no such thing as people being arrested for 'freely expressing opinion'," foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang told reporters on Thursday.

Human rights advocate for more than a decade

Dai founded the Committee for Human Rights in Vietnam in 2006 and was sentenced to five years in jail in 2007 for spreading propaganda against the government. While his term was reduced to four years on appeal, his lawyer's license was revoked.

After his release in 2011, Dai co-founded the Brotherhood for Democracy network in 2013. It included other, formerly jailed dissidents advocating via social media for human rights throughout Vietnam.

The communist government in Vietnam imposes tight media censorship and controls criticism of the regime. Hundreds of police were posted outside the courtroom on Thursday and a planned march by families of the accused was stopped.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>Jakarta : Six Vietnamese rights activists, including a prominent human rights lawyer arrested way back in 2015, will finally appear in the People’s Court of Hanoi on Thursday.

The six men, including Brotherhood for Democracy co-founder and lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, have been charged with "carrying out activities that aim to overthrow the people’s administration".

The Brotherhood for Democracy offers legal assistance to activists in Vietnam and agitates for democracy, greater religious freedoms and human rights in Vietnam.

Vietnam has undergone sweeping social change in recent years, with the size of the middle class growing and the economy increasingly open to the world. It is an increasingly close partner of Australia, the United States and some other ASEAN countries as a strategic balance to China's rise.

However, the communist government retains tight control on the media.</s>This statement was originally published on hrw.org on 4 April 2018. 

 

Vietnam should drop all charges against rights campaigners Le Thu Ha, Nguyen Bac Truyen, Nguyen Trung Ton, Nguyen Van Dai, Pham Van Troi, and Truong Minh Duc and release them immediately, Human Rights Watch said today. The People's Court of Hanoi is scheduled to hear their case on April 5, 2018. 

 

The six activists were charged with "carrying out activities that aim to overthrow the people's administration" under article 79 of the penal code. 

 

"The only crime that these activists have committed is to campaign tirelessly for democracy and defend victims of human rights abuses," said Brad Adams, Asia director. "The Vietnamese government should thank them for their efforts to improve the country instead of arresting and putting them on trial." 

 

Le Thu Ha, Nguyen Bac Truyen, Nguyen Trung Ton, Nguyen Van Dai, Pham Van Troi, and Truong Minh Duc are accused of being affiliated with Brotherhood for Democracy, which was founded in April 2013 by Nguyen Van Dai and fellow activists. With the stated goal "to defend human rights recognized by the Vietnam Constitution and international conventions" and "to promote the building of a democratic, progressive, civilized and just society for Vietnam," Brotherhood for Democracy provides a network for activists both in and outside Vietnam who campaign for human rights and democracy in Vietnam. 

 

Members of the group conducted informal trainings on civil society, human rights, and democracy, and learned skills such as safety and security on the internet. They participated in anti-China and pro-environment protests, and in humanitarian activities such as helping victims of natural disasters and veterans with disabilities. The Brotherhood for Democracy provided legal assistance to fellow activists who were arrested and charged for their pro-democracy activities and co-signed petitions calling for democracy and human rights in Vietnam. They also visited the family of political detainees and prisoners to show solidarity. 

 

All six activists have participated in numerous human rights activities, including campaigning for victims, teaching human rights standards, advocating for religious freedom, and supporting political prisoners and their families. Nguyen Bac Truyen, Nguyen Trung Ton, Pham Van Troi, and Truong Minh Duc joined other civil social groups to campaign against Formosa, a Taiwanese steel company that dumped toxic waste into the sea and caused a massive marine disaster along the central coast of Vietnam. 

 

The police arrested Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thu Ha in December 2015 and charged them with conducting propaganda against the state under article 88 of the penal code. Both were held in detention for almost 20 months without access to legal counsel. In July 2017, the police changed the charge to "carrying out activities that aim to overthrow the people's administration" under article 79 of the penal code. The other four were arrested in July 2017 under the same charge. 

 

Except for Le Thu Ha, each of the other five accused had previously served prison sentences for their peaceful pro-democracy and human rights activism. 

 

According to Quang Binh Online, the mouthpiece of the communist party branch of Quang Binh province, "to take advantage of the maritime environmental incident in the central coast in April 2016, together with other hostile forces and reactionary elements, Brotherhood for Democracy strived to propagandize, distort, stir up and incite people to participate in protests in the name of 'justice,' 'freedom,' 'democracy,' and 'march and protest for the environment.' These subjects tried to inflate and exacerbate sensitive issues that receive attention of public opinion; causing irritation, doubt and discontent among the masses. The polluted environmental incident accidentally became 'an opportunity' and 'a cause' for these subjects to exploit and raise a hullabaloo to influence public opinions both inside and outside the country, [making people] mis-understand the policies and guidelines of the Party and the State, and the course of socio-economic development of local regions." 

 

Since the Formosa environmental catastrophe in April 2016, there have been numerous protests in Vietnam to demand a clean environment and fair compensation for victims who lost their livelihoods. Vietnamese authorities have responded by arresting and imprisoning activists who protested, including Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Tran Thi Nga, Ho Van Hai, Tran Hoang Phuc, Hoang Duc Binh, Nguyen Van Hoa, and many others. 

 

"It is no coincidence that the trial of these six activists is planned on the two-year anniversary of the Formosa environmental disaster," said Adams. "Instead of silencing critics, the Vietnamese government should order an impartial outside assessment of its clean-up effort and deal directly with citizens in the affected areas to provide fair and transparent compensation for their losses."

Nguyen Van Dai, 48, is a human rights lawyer who supported the formation of many rights groups in 2006, including the Vietnam Independent Union, the pro-democracy Bloc 8406, and the Committee for Human Rights in Vietnam. He took on most of the legal defense for embattled Protestant churches, including the case of Mennonite pastor and former political prisoner Nguyen Hong Quang. He has written a number of articles about democracy and press freedom. He also opened informal classes at his law office for students who wanted to learn about human rights. 

 

For his activities, Nguyen Van Dai has been subject to numerous accounts of harassment, intimidation, interrogation, house arrest, detention, physical assault, and imprisonment. He was disbarred and arrested in March 2007 for "conducting propaganda against the state" under article 88 of the penal code. In May 2007, he was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. In November 2007, an appeals court reduced his sentence to four years. 

 

After completing his prison sentence, Nguyen Van Dai immediately resumed his human rights activism. In April 2013, he helped found a group called Brotherhood for Democracy, with the goals "to defend human rights recognized by the Vietnam Constitution and international conventions" and "to promote the building of a democratic, progressive, civilized, and just society for Vietnam." 

 

For further information on Nguyen Van Dai and the other rights campaigners, please see HRW's statement.</s>A court in Hanoi has handed down harsh sentences against six activists after convicting them of attempting to overthrow Vietnam's government.

Nguyen Van Mieng, the lawyer for prominent human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai said he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and five years of house arrest while his fellow activists received sentences from seven to 12 years at the one-day trial Thursday.

They were charged with affiliating with a pro-democracy group called Brotherhood for Democracy, whose purpose was to change the leadership of the Communist Party and build a multi-party system.

A State Department spokeswoman says the United States is deeply troubled with the sentencing and calls for release of all prisoners of conscience immediately.</s>Six activists were jailed for between seven and 15 years on Thursday for "attempting to overthrow the state", the harshest sentences in years as the communist country tightens its grip on critics.

The one-party state routinely locks up lawyers, bloggers and dissidents, but critics say a conservative leadership in charge since 2016 is a waging a crackdown that has sent a chill throughout the dissident community.

The six defendants convicted Thursday, including prominent lawyer Nguyen Van Dai who got 15 years in jail, were sentenced after a one-day trial held under heavy security in the Vietnamese capital, lawyers told AFP.

The defendants were all charged under Article 79 for attempting to overthrow the state, the lawyers said.

The case has drawn international scorn and gained widespread attention in the country, where independent civil society groups, political parties and media are all barred by the communist state.

Article 79 carries the maximum penalty of death, but the accused were spared the harshest sentence.

The activists are linked to the Brotherhood for Democracy, a nationwide network of activists that says it has about 80 full-time members.

They were accused of carrying out human rights training, pushing for multi-party democracy and receiving funds from overseas, according to the indictment.

"At the trial today, no evidence showing the defendants' attempt at overthrowing the state was given," lawyer Le Luan told AFP after the one-day trial.

"The charge was very much groundless," he said.

Five of the accused have been previously convicted, included lawyer Dai who has long been a thorn in the side of the communist authorities. Dai served four years in prison in 2007 for anti-state activity.

He was arrested along with his assistant Le Thu Ha -- who was sentenced to nine years Thursday -- in December 2015.

Both were initially accused of anti-state propaganda before it was increased to the more serious charge of attempting to overthrow the state.

The others, Pham Van Troi, pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, Truong Minh Duc and Nguyen Bac Truyen have been in custody since July 2017.

They were handed between seven and 12 years in jail.

"The trial has been so unfair and illogical. My husband and his friends did nothing wrong," Dai's wife, Vu Minh Khanh, told AFP in tears after the trial.

"All of them refused having committed any crime. Everything they did was not illegal," she said.

Earlier Thursday, several supporters of the dissidents were hauled off by plainclothes police as they tried to march to the courthouse in central Hanoi.

The group carried signs reading "Democracy is not a crime" and "Oppose suppression of Brotherhood for Democracy" before their march was broken up.

At least two were hauled into unmarked vans by plainclothes security agents and others put on a bus, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

Rights groups have decried the uptick in arrests and convictions over the past two years, including Amnesty International which said this week there are at least 97 dissidents behind bars in Vietnam.

Vietnam's foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang rejected claims that activists are being targeted and said the state is "ensuring and promoting human rights" in line with international law.

"In Vietnam, there are no so-called prisoners of conscience and no arrests of people who express their personal viewpoints," she told reporters Thursday, rejecting "biased" information from rights groups.</s>Six human rights activists in Vietnam have been sentenced to between seven and 15 years in jail, in a move condemned by the US as part of a "disturbing trend" by the country's authorities to restrict fundamental freedoms.

The state-run Vietnam News Agency said Thursday the Hanoi People's Court had given the longest sentence to human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, for "trying to overthrow the people's administration."

The judgment comes amid a wider government crackdown on peaceful dissent that has seen several bloggers and human rights activists given long jail sentences in the last 12 months.

"The United States is deeply concerned by the Vietnamese government's efforts to restrict these rights, through a disturbing trend of increased arrests, convictions, and harsh sentences of peaceful activists."

The five men and one woman sentenced were accused by the Vietnamese government of founding and being part of the "Brotherhood for Democracy," a self-described network of peaceful right activists and democracy advocates the government has accused of seeking to overthrow the state. All of them will face up to five years under house arrest after they finish their prison sentence, according to Vietnamese state media. The Communist Party of Vietnam has ruled the country as an effective one-party state since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai (center) and other political activists stand in a courtroom during their trial in Hanoi on April 5. Among those sentenced on Thursday were blogger Pham Van Troi, priest Nguyen Trung Ton, journalist Truong Minh Duc, entrepreneur Nguyen Bac Truyen and human rights worker Le Thu Ha. All of those sentenced, apart from Le Thu Ha, have previously served time in jail for their activism, according to Human Rights Watch. Amnesty International estimates there are at least 97 prisoners of conscience currently being held in Vietnamese jails. "Unless the Vietnamese government changes course and ends all unlawful practices aimed at jailing and harassing peaceful opponents, it is only a matter of time before the list of prisoners of conscience will grow even longer," James Gomez, Amnesty's director for Southeast Asia and Pacific, said in a statement.
A Vietnamese court sentences six high-profile Brotherhood for Democracy activists to prison on charges of attempting to overthrow the government, with the longest sentence handed to human rights lawyer Nguyễn Văn Đài.