Vietnam tries 3 bloggers for anti-gov’t propaganda

HANOI, Vietnam – Three prominent bloggers are being tried for spreading anti-government propaganda, a lawyer said.

Lawyer Ha Huy Son said the three were put on trial by the People’s Court in southern Ho Chi Minh City on Monday. If convicted the three face up to 20 years in prison.

Blogger Nguyen Van Hai wrote under the pen name Dieu Cay. The other bloggers are Ta Phong Tan and Phan Thanh Hai

All three belonged to the outlawed Free Journalists Club and were accused of posting and writing hundreds of articles that “distorted and opposed” the communist government.

International rights groups have condemned the trial and called for their immediate release.

Hanoi said no one was imprisoned for expressing their views and only law breakers were jailed.