Le Thanh Tung

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A Hanoi court convicted Tung, a former military officer and independent blogger, on charges of “conducting propaganda” against the state under Article 88 of the criminal code, news reports said. He was sentenced to five years in prison and four years of house arrest. In the one-hour trial held in August 2012, the court ruled that Tung’s articles “distorted the policies of the state and the party,” the reports said.

Tung’s online articles called for pluralism, multi-party democracy, and constitutional amendments that would alter Vietnam’s authoritarian, one-party political system, Agence France-Presse reported, citing local-language publications.

He was being held at Hanoi’s Thanh Liet B14 Detention Center, according to the Vietnam Human Rights Network, an exile-run group.