Hanoi- The government of Vietnam will put four more so-called internet democracy activists on trial this month, state media reported Friday. The defendants, all members of a "democratic club" that met online, will be charged with spreading propaganda against the state, according to Vietnam News (VNN), a government agency. The first trial will begin in Ho Chi Minh City on May 10.
Le Nguyen Sang, Huynh Nguyen Dao and Nguyen Bac Truyen are accused of helping a Vietnamese-American pro-democracy activist distribute leaflets that slandered the Vietnamese state and the Communist Party. The men admitted their guilt after they were arrested last year, according to the police.
In a separate trial scheduled to start May 15, Tran Quoc Hien is charged with spreading propaganda, as well as disrupting security, which is a far more serious charge.
Hien, a member of the dissident group known as Bloc 8406, is accused of joining "hostile elements in issuing a manifesto on freedom and democracy in Vietnam," said VNN. Articles posted by Hien were said to sow divisions among the people and the party and were intended to incite the Vietnamese people to demonstrate against their government.
Several members of Bloc 8406 have recently been convicted on charges of attempts to overthrow the government, a violation of Article 88 of Vietnam's criminal code. Activists say they are only calling for greater human rights and more democracy.
In March, a Vietnamese court sentenced dissident priest Nguyen Van Ly to eight years in prison for disseminating false information against the government.
On Thursday, Vietnam rejected a recent US House of Representatives' resolution that calls for the release of Ly and two other pro-democracy activists.
"No one in Vietnam is arrested due to their political views or religion," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung. "Only those who violate our country's laws are arrested, and these people are dealt with according to Vietnamese laws."
Vietnam has long maintained that the pro-democracy movement is being used by criminals to undermine Vietnam's social order and security.
But Pham Que Duong, a former Communist Party member, who is now one of its greatest critics, says that these trials are part of the government's efforts to muffle dissent prior to the National Assembly elections to be held on May 20.
"Those who are outside of jail will continue to fight for real democracy for Vietnam," said Pham. "We want to fight for justice because we love our motherland: Vietnam."
If convicted, the activists face a maximum of 15 years in prison. The trials are expected to last one day.
