Vietnamese man sentenced to two years for anti-government leaflets

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dpa German Press Agency
Published: Thursday November 30, 2006

Hanoi- A Vietnamese court has sentenced a Ho Chi Minh City man to two years in prison for "abusing freedom and democratic rights" by distributing leaflets calling for the overthrow of the communist government, a judge said. Le Van Yen, 53, was arrested in April while trying to distribute 90 leaflets with anti-communist messages, according to Vu Phi Long, the presiding judge in the case.

"The leaflets insult the party and the state of Vietnam and called for an uprise to overthrow the ruling of the Communist Party," Long said.

Yen was convicted under Article 258 of Vietnam's penal code, which bans "abusing freedom and democratic rights to violate the interests of the state." The crime is punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Political opposition is suppressed in Vietnam, where anti-government activists are routinely jailed for writings criticizing the communist leadership or calling for multi-party elections.

Yen was a mechanic and was close to retirement when he started chatting on a pro-democracy forum in the voice-over-Internet website PalTalk in 2004.

According to the judge, a "foreign hostile organization" on PalTalk persuaded Yen to make a public anti-government statement.

"Other members of the forum had promised to give Yen 200 dollars for distributing the leaflets, and he was arrested soon after throwing the leaflets from the roof of his house," said the judge.

Yen pleaded guilty in court and said he never received the money, according to the judge.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency