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| Cu Huy Ha Vu, centre, is escorted from court in Hanoi. His one-day trial saw protests and the judge evicting one of his defence lawyers. Photograph: EPA |
Diplomats and analysts said that the heavy sentence sent a clear signal that the government would not tolerate criticism of the current system, at a time when Vietnam’s economic model is facing severe headwinds.
“There’s been a clear widening of the net,” said one diplomat. “The government’s trying to say that no one’s beyond the reach of the law, whatever their pedigree.”
Legal activists, free-thinking bloggers and democracy campaigners are regularly jailed for a wide range of political offences in Vietnam. But there has been a rise in political convictions and the severity of the sentences of the last 2 ½ years, diplomats said.
The rapid, unexpected spread of the “Jasmine revolutions” in the Middle East and north Africa has made authoritarian governments in Asian countries such as Vietnam and China more nervous about the potential threat from dissidents.
Mr Vu’s case was one of the most politically charged of recent years because of his family’s connections and because his attempts to take on the government in court over land and environmental disputes had attracted widespread backing.
Several dozen supporters of Mr Vu tried to hold a vigil outside the court in central Hanoi bearing candles and bouquets of flowers. But baton-wielding riot police and plain-clothes security officers pushed them back and belatedly closed the main road outside the court until the trial was finished. A number of people were arrested and dragged away by police.
There were also chaotic scenes inside the court, where one of Mr Vu’s lawyers was removed by police before the three remaining members of his defence team walked out in protest.
Mr Vu then defended himself, denying the main charge, insisting that his calls for a multi-party system were lawfully expressed and calling into question the objectivity of the court.
Nguyen Huu Chinh, the presiding judge, continually interrupted Mr Vu during his defence and told him to stop talking.
Sentencing Mr Vu to seven years in prison and three years of house arrest, the judge said that Mr Vu’s behaviour was “serious and harmful to society”.
“His writings and interviews blackened directly or indirectly the Communist party of Vietnam. He was born into a revolutionary family, but he did not develop [the tradition].”
That view was not shared by Mr Vu’s supporters, who said that he has demonstrated his patriotism time and time again.
“We should honour him for protecting the people’s rights, not throw him in jail,” said one man who had travelled up from southern Vietnam for the trial.
Support for Mr Vu’s predicament has extended beyond the usual small network of dissidents and activists.
“People are very unhappy about this,” said one senior journalist at a state-owned newspaper. “It’s not about whether Mr Vu is right or wrong. It’s just bad to restrict debate at a time when our country is facing such serious economic challenges.”
He added that academics, intellectuals and journalists were getting increasingly frustrated at the ongoing crackdown, which has closed down much of the space for free speech that opened up because of the rapid spread of the internet.
“We can’t endure this for years,” he said.
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