THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Asia News
DECEMBER 29, 2009
Asia News
DECEMBER 29, 2009
Vietnam Convicts a Pro-Democracy Army Officer of Subversion
By JAMES HOOKWAY
Vietnam convicted a former army officer who pushed for democratic reforms of subversion on Monday, sentencing him to five and a half years in prison and sending a stark warning that the room for political dissent is quickly shrinking in this rigorously controlled Communist state.
The brief trial of Tran Anh Kim -- the court hearing in northern Thai Binh province began in the morning and was over by lunch -- is the first in a series of prosecutions of pro-democracy and human-rights activists in Vietnam. Four other people, including prominent human-rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh, were charged with subversion last week and potentially face the death penalty for allegedly attempting to undermine the state by promoting democratic freedoms.
Political analysts say the crackdown comes at a time when hard-liners in the ruling Communist Party are rolling back the few freedoms they had allowed as Vietnam's economy rapidly expanded over the past decade.
Authorities often turned a blind eye to criticism and allowed a greater degree of freedom for religious groups as they worked to smooth Vietnam's entry into the World Trade Organization in early 2007.
However, Vietnam's economy suffered a destabilizing bout of inflation in 2008, and its exports were badly rocked by the impact of the global economic crisis. The government's response has been to uproot dissent to prevent Vietnam's economic problems from weakening the Communist Party's hold on power, analysts say. Many expect the repression to deepen ahead of a party congress in January 2011. A congress takes place every five years and is often the focus of conflict between the party's reformist and conservative wings.
Mr. Kim, a 60-year-old former lieutenant colonel, was accused by authorities of joining Bloc 8406, an organization that promotes multiparty democracy -- an illegal act under Vietnam's constitution, which reserves power solely for the Communist Party. Prosecutors also said Mr. Kim posted pro-democracy articles on the Internet and joined the outlawed Democratic Party of Vietnam.
During the trial, Mr. Kim, who won three military-service medals during the Vietnam War before being dismissed from the army and expelled from the Communist Party for alleged financial mismanagement, told the court he stood up for his beliefs and for campaigning against corruption, according to the Associated Press.
"I am a person of merit," the AP quoted him as saying. "I did not commit crimes."
Foreign media and diplomats were allowed to follow Monday's court proceedings by closed-circuit television. The presiding judge, Tran Van Loan, said when announcing the sentence that Mr. Kim had helped organize crimes against the state and cooperated with "reactionary Vietnamese and hostile forces in exile."
Mr. Kim could have faced the death penalty, but prosecutors sought a more lenient sentence because of his military record. His conviction came less than a month before the trials of the human-rights lawyer, Mr. Dinh, and three other activists are due to begin.
Write to James Hookway at james.hookway@wsj.com
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By JAMES HOOKWAY
Vietnam convicted a former army officer who pushed for democratic reforms of subversion on Monday, sentencing him to five and a half years in prison and sending a stark warning that the room for political dissent is quickly shrinking in this rigorously controlled Communist state.
The brief trial of Tran Anh Kim -- the court hearing in northern Thai Binh province began in the morning and was over by lunch -- is the first in a series of prosecutions of pro-democracy and human-rights activists in Vietnam. Four other people, including prominent human-rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh, were charged with subversion last week and potentially face the death penalty for allegedly attempting to undermine the state by promoting democratic freedoms.
Political analysts say the crackdown comes at a time when hard-liners in the ruling Communist Party are rolling back the few freedoms they had allowed as Vietnam's economy rapidly expanded over the past decade.
Authorities often turned a blind eye to criticism and allowed a greater degree of freedom for religious groups as they worked to smooth Vietnam's entry into the World Trade Organization in early 2007.
However, Vietnam's economy suffered a destabilizing bout of inflation in 2008, and its exports were badly rocked by the impact of the global economic crisis. The government's response has been to uproot dissent to prevent Vietnam's economic problems from weakening the Communist Party's hold on power, analysts say. Many expect the repression to deepen ahead of a party congress in January 2011. A congress takes place every five years and is often the focus of conflict between the party's reformist and conservative wings.
Mr. Kim, a 60-year-old former lieutenant colonel, was accused by authorities of joining Bloc 8406, an organization that promotes multiparty democracy -- an illegal act under Vietnam's constitution, which reserves power solely for the Communist Party. Prosecutors also said Mr. Kim posted pro-democracy articles on the Internet and joined the outlawed Democratic Party of Vietnam.
During the trial, Mr. Kim, who won three military-service medals during the Vietnam War before being dismissed from the army and expelled from the Communist Party for alleged financial mismanagement, told the court he stood up for his beliefs and for campaigning against corruption, according to the Associated Press.
"I am a person of merit," the AP quoted him as saying. "I did not commit crimes."
Foreign media and diplomats were allowed to follow Monday's court proceedings by closed-circuit television. The presiding judge, Tran Van Loan, said when announcing the sentence that Mr. Kim had helped organize crimes against the state and cooperated with "reactionary Vietnamese and hostile forces in exile."
Mr. Kim could have faced the death penalty, but prosecutors sought a more lenient sentence because of his military record. His conviction came less than a month before the trials of the human-rights lawyer, Mr. Dinh, and three other activists are due to begin.
Write to James Hookway at james.hookway@wsj.com
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