Vietnam Jails Prominent Activist for 30 Months

By William Gallo, Voice of America

A prominent Vietnamese activist has been sentenced to 30 months in jail on tax evasion charges that critics say are politically motivated.

Friends and supporters wearing t-shirts with the image of lawyer Le Quoc Quan hold hands while attending a mass calling for Quan to be freed at Thai Ha church in Hanoi September 29, 2013.

Le Quoc Quan was also fined about $60,000 at the half-day trial, held under tight security on Wednesday at the Hanoi People’s Court.

Ahead of the ruling, police formed a tight ring around the court, preventing Quan’s supporters from reaching the facility. Some small-scale clashes were reported.

The 42-year-old is one of Vietnam’s best-known government critics. Before his December arrest, the Catholic lawyer ran a blog on human rights, democracy, religious freedom and other sensitive topics.

Duy Hoang is a Washington-based spokesman for Viet Tan, a pro-democracy group banned in Vietnam. He tells VOA it was a “politically motivated trial from the very beginning.”

“Le Quoc Quan is a very well respected democracy activist and human rights lawyer. And frankly, the Vietnamese government was afraid to put him on trial for his political activism and blogging and expression, so they had to resort to tax charges,” said Hoang.

Read the full story by William Gallo from Voice of America.