Police arrested dissident writer Hieu in Ho Chi Minh City in June 1995. On Nov. 8, he was convicted of violating the interests of the state by writing and distributing documents criticizing the government and was sentenced to 15 months in prison. In privately circulated pamphlets, Hieu had written about the government’s attempts to disband the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and had called for greater openness in the Communist Party. Hieu, a former party official in charge of religious affairs in Ho Chi Minh City, was previously arrested in 1990 and expelled from the party in 1992.