Release International

Vietnam has defied its critics by giving long jail sentences to two high-profile Christian lawyers, so stifling yet more voices of dissent.

Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, both well-known for their work in defending religious liberty, were sentenced to five and four years in jail respectively. This will be followed by four and three years of probationary detention or house arrest.

A Hanoi court convicted the lawyers of 'disseminating slanderous and libellous information against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam', after a trial of just four hours. But it was their attempts to promote human rights, and to document abuses, which angered the authorities.

As 7x7 reported on May 1, the official Vietnamese press had previously published articles portraying the pair as criminals. The state news agency accused the lawyers of 'posting information on the internet and painting biased and distorted pictures of the country and its internal affairs'. One paper accused them of 'conspiring with terrorists'.

Dai, 38, who is a member of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam in Hanoi, came to prominence after he defended the so-called Mennonite Six in Ho Chi Minh City in 2004-5. Nhan, 28, who works at Dai's law firm, was preparing to be baptised at the same church.

Both are expected to appeal.

• Pray that Dai and Nhan will be able to appeal against their sentences quickly -- and that they will be acquitted. Pray for them and their families in the meantime.
• Pray that this blatant attempt to silence calls for reform will not go unnoticed or unchallenged by governments who have influence over Vietnam's policies.

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