activist

  Responding to the conviction and sentencing of the labour and land rights activist Trần Thị Nga to nine years in prison for “conducting propaganda against the state” in Viet Nam today, Amnesty International’s Deputy Campaigns Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Josef Benedict, said:   “Today’s conviction and imprisonment of Trần Thị Nga are outrageous and must be reversed immediately. She is a prisoner of conscience who has done nothing but peacefully defend human rights.   “This is the second conviction of a woman human rights defender in less than a month in Viet Nam, where authorities are stepping up efforts to put peaceful activists behind bars. The government is destroying the lives of brave individuals and their families simply to intimidate others from raising their voices.   “There are more than 90 prisoners of conscience in Viet Nam today, and the numbers are only growing. The harsh restrictions on rights defenders and activism must end immediately.”