Vietnam Jails 13 Activists in New Crackdown

W460

A Vietnamese court on Wednesday jailed 13 activists linked to a banned US-based opposition group for plotting to overthrow the communist state, a lawyer said, in the latest crackdown on dissent.

The accused -- including Catholics, bloggers and students -- were handed sentences ranging from three to 13 years, defense lawyer Ha Huy Son told Agence France Presse.

Another defendant was handed a three-year suspended sentence, which in Vietnam equates to house arrest, and immediately released from police custody.

After a two-day trial held amid heavy security, the court ruled that all of the accused had links to the U.S.-based Viet Tan group, which Hanoi considers a terrorist organization -- a verdict slammed by the defense.

"The court did not have objective evidence to find them guilty of the charge," Son said after the ruling at the provincial court in Nghe An about 300 kilometers (190 miles) south of Hanoi.

Rights groups, who say dozens of peaceful political activists are languishing in Vietnamese jails, condemned the sentences and called for the activists to be released.

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