An author and democracy activist who criticised Vietnam's communist government has been sentenced to four years in prison for spreading propaganda against the state.
The lawyer for Pham Thanh Nghien (32), said she was also given three years probation after a half-day trial today in the northern port city of Haiphong.
The trial was closed to Western media and diplomats who are ordinarily allowed to watch such proceedings on closed-circuit TV at the courthouse.
Nghien was the 15th Vietnamese democracy activist to face charges in the last three months. All the others were quickly tried, convicted and jailed.
AP