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Vietnam sentences two musicians to up to six years for \u201canti-state propaganda.\u201d<\/em> \nA court in Vietnam sent two prominent musicians to prison Tuesday for writing politically sensitive songs, drawing criticism from rights groups which saw the decision as part of a growing crackdown on dissent not tolerated in the one-party communist state.<\/p>\n Following a half-day trial, the People\u2019s Court of Ho Chi Minh City handed Vo Minh Tri, a 34-year-old drummer from My Tho in Tien Giang province, four years in prison and Tran Vu Anh Binh, a 37-year-old songwriter from the city, six years in jail, Tri\u2019s lawyer Tran Vu Hai told RFA\u2019s Vietnamese service.<\/p>\n Binh and Tri, who is also known as Viet Khang, were convicted for producing \u201cpropaganda against the state\u201d<\/em> and were also given two years of probation each following completion of jail time.<\/p>\n The Supreme People\u2019s Procuracy of Vietnam, which is responsible for prosecutions and legal matters in Vietnam, had argued for significantly longer sentences for the two musicians, Hai said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Procurator had asked that \u2026 the Penal Code\u2019s Article 88 be applied with a jail term of up to 20 years, on the pretext that these were cases of severe propaganda against the state,\u201d<\/em> the lawyer said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe argued that was inappropriate because the court could not show any evidence of such severe propaganda.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Both men were detained under Article 88 of the country\u2019s Penal Code, a provision rights groups say Vietnam has used to detain dozens of bloggers in a campaign to silence dissent.<\/p>\n Binh, who was arrested on Sept. 19, 2011, has written songs against the imprisonment of dissidents, including prominent blogger Nguyen Van Hai\u2014also known as Dieu Cay. <\/p>\n Tri, who was arrested on Dec. 23, 2011, is known for writing lyrics which rail against a widening income gap between Vietnam\u2019s wealthy and poor, and against state crackdowns on activists protesting Chinese claims in the South China Sea. <\/p>\n Hai said the judge had refused a request by the two men to play their songs in court.<\/p>\n \nSupporters of the two men said that Tuesday\u2019s trial was heavily guarded and that they were refused entry to the courtroom.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of policemen, even military ones,\u201d<\/em> said a woman who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity. \u201cNot only did they cordon off the four sides of the court, they also warded people off from afar at the intersections.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI walked around to see the intersections. Each had about a dozen to 20 policemen.\u201d<\/em>\u2028Father Dinh Huu Thoai from the Catholic Redemptorist Order\u2014of which Binh is a choir member\u2014said he had been removed from the area around the courthouse by police and interrogated at a nearby station.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir aim [in escorting me to the Ben Thanh police station] was to delete all the pictures I took and to check my cell phone,\u201d<\/em> Thoai said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe deputy police chief of the station said, \u2018You are a priest and should only be at church.\u2019 I replied, \u2018The trial is for one of my church members, Binh, so this morning I came to attend\u2019,\u201d<\/em> he said, adding that he was sent home after being questioned.<\/p>\n \nLawyer Hai said the court had accused both men of having ties to the Patriot Youth, an overseas political opposition group. <\/p>\n Hai said that Binh, whose songs had been performed by several popular singers in Vietnam, had been accused of writing for the Patriot Youth political blog.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was accused of joining the Patriot Youth, an online organization which aims to produce \u2018propaganda against the state\u2019,\u201d<\/em> the lawyer said.<\/p>\n \u201c[They said] he is in charge of a Patriot Youth blog on which he posted many songs and other information.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Patriot Youth claims Binh as a member who wrote a song called \u201cPain of the Homeland\u201d under the pen name Hoang Nhat Thong.<\/p>\n Hai said that his client Tri had no political motivation and would appeal his sentence.<\/p>\n \u201cViet Khang will appeal to a higher court because he said he is not a political activist, he just writes songs about whatever he is thinking,\u201d<\/em> the lawyer said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe would do anything to return to his family.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \nThe outcome of the musicians\u2019 trial drew immediate condemnation from international rights groups, which called for the unconditional release of the two men.<\/p>\n Phil Robertson, New York-based Human Rights Watch\u2019s deputy director for Asia, called the jailing an \u201coutrageous new turn of events\u201d<\/em> in Vietnam, already known for its relentless suppression of dissent.<\/p>\n \u201cVietnam\u2019s escalating crackdown on freedom of expression has now reached the ranks of musicians, showing that even singing about ideas opposed by the government will see the offender condemned to a long prison term,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n \u201cJailing song-writers is an outrageous new turn of events that reveals the totality of the government\u2019s intolerance for those raising uncomfortable issues, whether they are economic disparities, police brutality, or Vietnam\u2019s relationship with China.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights said the sentences showed that Vietnam, which is seeking a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council for 2014-2016, is not ready to hold meaningful dialogue with the international community on such issues.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce again, Hanoi has displayed its utter contempt for its citizens\u2019 rights and its international obligations,\u201d<\/em> said Vo Van Ai, president of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights.<\/p>\n \u201cJust last week, Vietnam held its annual human rights dialogue with the European Union. Its dialogue with the United States is in November. Between these two rounds of dialogues, Hanoi sentences two young people who have done nothing but to sing of freedom and the love of their country,\u201d<\/em> Ai said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis hypocrisy should cease and these two people should be immediately set free.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Reported by Gwen Ha for RFA\u2019s Vietnamese service. Translated by An Nguyen. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vietnam sentences two musicians to up to six years for \u201canti-state propaganda.\u201d Police and security staff stand outside the Ho Chi Minh City courthouse, Sept, 24, 2012 (AFP) A court in Vietnam sent two prominent musicians to prison Tuesday for writing politically sensitive songs, drawing criticism from rights groups which saw the decision …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":431,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-press-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/431"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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