Vietnam

Activist's jail term reduced

Published: November 29, 2012 11:06 AM GMT

Updated: November 28, 2012 11:07 PM GMT

The highest court has reduced the jail term of a Hanoi activist who was indicted for his internet articles on democracy.

The Supreme People’s Court yesterday reduced Le Thanh Tung’s sentence to four years in prison and another four years under house arrest, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Tung had initially been sentenced in August to five years in prison and four years under house arrest by the Hanoi city court. He was found guilty of “propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”

Tung, who called himself a journalist of the Vietnam Democracy and Freedom Movement, posted numerous articles and documents that criticized the communist government and demanded a multi-party, pluralist state as well as an amendment of the Constitution.

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