Vietnam jails 13 for exercising freedom of speech

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2013/jan/10/press-freedom-vietnam

Version 0 of 1.

Bloggers, writers and trainee journalists were among 13 pro-democracy activists jailed in Vietnam for terms of between three and 13 years.

They were convicted of "carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration". They are linked to Viet Tan, a Vietnamese dissident group based in the US that the Vietnamese authorities regard as a terrorist organisation.

Among their supposed criminal activities were the writing of articles on the net critical of the country's communist government.

The freedom of expression campaign group, ARTICLE 19, and the US government do not believe such activities are criminal.

Agnes Callamard, executive director of ARTICLE 19, said: "Thirteen people are now behind bars for doing nothing more than expressing legitimate political concerns. They have been locked away for sharing views about matters of public importance on the internet and for taking part in peaceful demonstrations."

<em>Sources:</em> IFEX/Article 19/AP via The Guardian