Vietnamese dissident jailed for ‘disturbing public order’

Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, a Vietnamese journalist and novelist who received a human rights award for courage, has been convicted of “disturbing the public order,” The Associated Press reported Thursday. She was sentenced to nine months in jail but released due to previously served time, a court official said.

Thuy had previously been accused of organizing an independent trade union, supporting a dissident human rights commission, and being a member of a pro-democracy group that circulates human rights petitions.

According to the article, “she was originally charged with violating Article 88 of Vietnam’s criminal code, which broadly prohibits distributing information harmful to the state. It was unclear why the court changed the charge.”

“Vietnam’s government, which does not tolerate challenges to its one-party rule, has been cracking down on dissidents,” the article added.

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