Vietnamese court confirms sentences of Catholic activists
January 27, 2011
A Vietnamese court has rejected the appeal of 6 lay Catholic activists who were convicted of causing social unrest after a series of demonstrations over the government’s seizure of parish properties.
The appeals court confirmed the 9-12 month prison terms that had been handed down to the Catholic defendants in October, after a trial that was highly politicized and widely criticized as a sham.
The appeals court announced, however, that two of the convicted activists would be released on parole “because they re-educated themselves well and repented of their violations.” The activists denied having expressed regret for their defense of parish property and renewed their argument that they had done nothing wrong.
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