Anti-government propaganda, Vietnamese court condemns two musicians
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A Vietnamese court has sentenced two songwriters to prison terms of varying degrees, guilty according to the magistrates, of having posted some songs "critical of the government" on the internet. In the Land of Southeast Asia the heavy hand of the authorities continues against internal dissidence and critical voices. Recently, a people's court of the province of Nghe An, in the north of the country, upheld the sentence on appeal, first handed down in May, against three young Catholic activists, guilty - according to the Communist authorities - of "propaganda against the state "and distributing" anti-government leaflets "(AsiaNews 28/09/2012 Vietnamese Court upholds sentence against three young Catholics). Appeals for their release from the Vinh Catholic Church Commission for Justice and Peace were to no avail.
According to reports from defense lawyer Tran Vu Hai, Vo Minh Tri (better known as the Viet Khang, pictured) and his colleague TranVu Anh Binh were charged - as also happened in the case of young Catholic activists - for promoting "propaganda against the state". The sentence imposed by the court at first instance is, respectively, four and six years in prison.
The two authors and music composers uploaded their songs on a website based abroad, which has content critical of the communist government in Hanoi and which has repeatedly suppressed internal criticism and dissent. The sentence came after a hearing that lasted almost five hours, which was held this morning in a court in the city of Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam.
Meanwhile, activists for human rights and international humanitarian organizations have condemned in no uncertain terms the manner in which the trial was held and demanded their "immediate release." Even the social network has launched a campaign for his release, including Facebook which has devoted a page dedicated to the Vietnamese author: "Free Viet Khang."
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