Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Le Huu Minh Tuan were convicted of “manufacturing, preserving, distributing materials, articles with the aim of opposing the state” during a trial one day in Ho Chi Minh City, the Ministry of Public Safety said.
Dung founded the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam in 2014, which, according to police, wanted government change.
Despite extensive economic reform and increasing openness to social change, the ruling Communist Party in Vietnam maintains strict media censorship and tolerates little criticism.
The party, led by 76-year-old Nguyen Phu Trong, has intensified opposition to the controversy ahead of its five-year congress later this month.
Mis was jailed for 15 years and Thuy and Tuan each spent 11 years.
Washington-based Radio Free Asia said Thuy had commented on RFA’s Vietnamese service and condemned the convictions.
“The harsh sentencing of Thuy and two other independent journalists is a blatant assault on basic freedoms and flies in light of the freedom of expression enshrined in Vietnam’s constitution,” RFA President Stephen Yates said in a statement. statement said.
According to RFA, two other RFA Vietnamese associates are already serving prison sentences in Vietnam: Truong Duy Nhat, a blogger who was sentenced to ten years last March, and Nguyen Van Hoa, a videographer who was sentenced to seven years in November 2017.
The U.S. State Department, which has developed close ties with Hanoi while still concerned about its human rights record, said it was disappointed with the latest sentences and called them ‘hard’ and ‘the latest in a’ alarming trend ‘.
“We call on the Vietnamese government to ensure that its actions are in line with the human rights provisions of its constitution and its international obligations and obligations,” a spokesman said.
Amnesty International said the sentences highlight Hanoi’s contempt for free media, especially before the congress.
“Even by its own deeply oppressive standards, the severity of the sentences shows the depth that Vietnam’s censors are reaching,” said his deputy regional director, Emerlynne Gil.
Human Rights Watch, the charges have a fake. ‘
“If the ruling party is so assured of its leadership, it must show its confidence by respecting civil and political rights,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Asia.