It said the prison term, handed down on 20 December by a ³people¹s court² in Hanoi and the heaviest ever imposed on a cyber-dissident in Vietnam, confirmed the government¹s determination to follow China¹s policy of broad repression of Internet users.

Toan was found guilty of spying for e-mailing material to allegedly ³reactionary² Vietnamese human rights organisations abroad. His rights to a fair trial were ignored and the hearing, which lasted only a few hours, was held in secret, in violation of article 131 of the national constitution and without even family members present. He was only allowed to see his lawyer twice, a few days before the trial, but was not able to talk to him in private.

Toan, a former army officer, was arrested on 8 January last year in a Hanoi cybercafé and has since been held in the B14 prison not far from the city.

Reporters Without Borders notes that three other cyber-dissidents are in prison in Vietnam. Le Chi Quang, who is in poor health, was sentenced to four years in jail on 8 November last for having advocated political reforms via the Internet. Dr Pham Hong Son (arrested on 29 March last) and journalist Nguyen Vu Binh (arrested on 25 September last) are in prison for having expressed opinions online and have not yet been tried. Tran Khue, a literature teacher who wrote a letter to then Chinese President Jiang Zemin which he put on the Internet, has been under house arrest since 10 March last year.

Thu, 2 Jan 2003