Vietnam arrests another internet dissident in crackdown

Apr 23, 2007, 14:43 GMT

Hanoi - Vietnamese authorities have arrested another internet writer in their ongoing crackdown on criticism of the country's communist government, state-run media reported Monday.

Writer Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, 47, was arrested Saturday on charges of 'conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic,' the Ha Noi Moi (New Hanoi) newspaper said.

'Thuy was caught red-handed while she was disseminating distorting documents,' the article in the state-run newspaper said.

Vietnam's government has in recent months arrested at least nine members of the country's tiny pro-democracy movement, which had recently become more vocal thanks to the internet.

Human-rights groups have described the crackdown on dissent as the harshest in decades.

Vietnam's government, however, argued that its actions against government critics are following the law.

Article 88 of Vietnam's legal code forbids disseminating anti-government materials, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and Article 87 allows up to 15 years for 'disrupting national unity.'

Last month, Vietnam convicted a prominent dissident priest, Father Nguyen Van Ly, and four others for violating Article 88 and sentenced Ly to eight years in prison. His co-defendants received sentences ranging from probation to six years.