Asia-Pacific News
Vietnam releases democracy activist
Aug 17, 2010, 9:59 GMT
Hanoi - The Vietnamese government on Tuesday released a prominent democracy activist who had served four years in prison.
Le Nguyen Sang, 49, was arrested in August 2006, along with three other members of the People's Democratic Party of Vietnam, a banned political group based in the United States.
He was sentenced to four years in prison under Article 88 of the criminal code, which bans 'conducting propaganda against the state.'
Sang had written articles critical of the communist regime on the internet.
US citizen Do Thanh Cong was also arrested but deported. The other two, Huynh Nguyen Dao and Nguyen Bac Truyen, completed their prison terms in February 2009 and May 2010.
Sang said he intended to continue engaging in political activism.
'Having chosen to take this path, I will never surrender,' Sang said by telephone.
Authorities have arrested dozens of democracy activists and independent bloggers over the past four years, sentencing many to prison.
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