Vietnamese authorities should immediately release the blogger Nguyen Van Hoa who was sentenced on Monday to seven years in prison on charges of disseminating "propaganda against the state."
In a one-day trial, a court in the province of #HaTinh sentenced Hoa to 7 years in prison and three years of house arrest under article 88 of the penal code, an anti-state provision that carries maximum 20-year prison terms for the offense of "propagandizing" against the state.
"The conviction and sentencing of blogger Nguyen Van Hoa represents a new low for #pressfreedom in #Vietnam," said CPJ Senior Southeast Asia Representative Shawn Crispin.
"Hoa's reporting on an environmental disaster is clearly in the public's interest; jailing whistle-blowing journalists is not. Vietnam must stop its senseless repression of independent reporters." Shawn Crispin, CPJ senior Southeast Asia representative
