Hanoi - A Vietnamese court reduced the sentences of two jailed dissidents by one year on Tuesday in an appeal trial where defence attorneys directly challenged the law used to convict them as violating free-speech guarantees. Attorneys Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan were convicted in May of"spreading propaganda against the Socialist Republic" under Article 88 of Vietnam's criminal code for holding "democracy seminars" in their Hanoi offices.
"I am a political prisoner, not a criminal," Dai, 38, said Tuesday during the trial at which his sentence was reduced from five to four years.
Nhan, 27, vowed to continue speaking out when her prison term - reduced to three years from four - was complete.
The appeal case, which came amid a crackdown on opposition groups, is one of the most open legal challenges to communist Vietnam's sedition laws and has been closely watched by diplomats and human-rights groups.
"Talking about democracy and human rights cannot be seen as anti-government unless the government itself is against democracy," attorney Le Cong Dinh argued before Hanoi Appeals Court.
At least five pro-democracy activists were detained Tuesday outside the court, according to witnesses and a police source. They were released later, police said.
In the trial, five defence lawyers made a spirited case for the activists to be set free, arguing that the "democracy seminars" that Dai and Nhan hosted did not constitute harm to the state.
Defense attorney Dinh also challenged the legality of Article 88, saying Vietnam's constitution guarantees freedom of speech.
"If they were charged with Article 88 for what they said, then Article 88 conflicts with the constitution," Dinh said.
Another defence attorney, Tran Lam, also argued for the dissidents to be freed.
"Saying I want democracy in Vietnam doesn't mean I want to overthrow the Communist Party of Vietnam," Lam said. "They haven't committed a crime and so must be freed."
In reducing the sentences, Judge Nguyen Minh Man cited the defendants' "honesty" but said the two remained guilty of "distorting and making slanderous accusations about the situation in Vietnam."
The judge declined to address the constitutionality of Article 88.
Foreign diplomats, who were allowed to view the trial along with reporters through a television feed, welcomed the sentence reduction and the fairly open trial, but urged the government to release political prisoners.
"We continue to urge Vietnamese authorities to release all non-violent political activists who simply exercise their rights to freedom of expression and association as guaranteed under Vietnamese law and international covenants," a European diplomat said.
