A court in Vietnam has sentenced journalist and political activist Nguyen Vu Binh to seven years in prison on charges of producing propaganda against the state, as reported by his sister.
Binh, who previously served almost five years in jail in the early 2000s, had written about sensitive topics like corruption, land rights, and the environment.
Despite claiming his innocence and asserting his right to freedom of speech during the trial in Hanoi, the 55-year-old was handed the prison sentence in a country known for its strict control on dissent.
Vietnam is ranked as the world’s third-largest jailer of journalists by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), with no free media allowed.
Human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), have condemned the conviction. Patricia Gossman of HRW emphasized that Binh’s peaceful dissent is not a crime. Binh’s arrest in February coincided with the detention of another activist, Nguyen Chi Tuyen, who was similarly jailed for five years last month on similar charges.
Binh, a former journalist for the Communist Party of Vietnam’s journal, has been outspoken on various issues since resigning from the publication in 2000. He previously faced imprisonment from 2003 to 2007 on espionage charges.
His latest conviction is part of a broader crackdown on activists, with at least seven others jailed recently for their criticism of the government.
Vietnam, which ranks near the bottom of the RSF’s world press freedom index, has also been intensifying its anti-corruption efforts, leading to the prosecution of several high-profile figures in recent years.
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