Vietnam Jails Student Activist for Anti-State Propaganda

Prominent blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, left, stands trial in June in the south central province of Khanh Hoa, Vietnam. Photo: Associated Press

HANOI — A court in northern Vietnam has sentenced a student activist to six years in prison for promoting multiparty system and press freedom.

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Phan Kim Khanh was also given four year of probation after being convicted of spreading propaganda against the state at the trial that lasted half a day Wednesday in Thai Nguyen province.

The 24-year-old Khanh was arrested in March while in his final year for an international studies degree at the Thai Nguyen University.

Human rights groups have appealed for his immediate release and called on leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Vietnam next month to pressure Hanoi to improve its rights record.

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