Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Le Huu Minh Tuan were convicted of “making, storing, disseminating information, materials, objects for the purpose of opposing the state” at a one-day trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Ministry of Public Prosecution. Security said.
Dung founded the Vietnam Association of Independent Journalists in 2014, which police said sought to change the regime.
Despite radical economic reform and increasing openness to social change, the ruling Communist Party in Vietnam maintains strict media censorship and tolerates little criticism.
The party, led by 76-year-old Nguyen Phu Trong, has stepped up repression of dissent ahead of its five-year congress later this month.
Dung was imprisoned for 15 years, and Thuy and Tuan 11 years each.
Washington-based Radio Free Asia said Thuy contributed comments to the Vietnamese FRG service and condemned the convictions.
“The harsh condemnation of Thuy and two other independent journalists is a blatant attack on basic freedoms and flies in the face of the freedom of expression enshrined in the Vietnam Constitution,” FRG President Stephen Yates said in a statement.
RFA said two other Vietnamese RFA collaborators were already serving prison sentences in Vietnam: Truong Duy Nhat, a blogger who was sentenced in March last year to 10 years, and Nguyen Van Hoa, a video that was sentenced in November 2017 to seven years.
The US State Department, which has developed close ties with Hanoi, while remaining concerned about the human rights situation, said it was disappointed with the latest sentences, calling them “harsh” and “the latest in a worrying trend”.
“We urge the Vietnamese government to ensure that its actions comply with the human rights provisions of its constitution and its international obligations and commitments,” a spokesman said.
Amnesty International said the sentences underscored Hanoi’s contempt for the free media, especially before the congress.
“Even by its own deeply repressive standards, the severity of the sentences shows the depth to which Vietnam’s censors have reached,” said its deputy regional director, Emerlynne Gil.
Human Rights Watch called the allegations “false.”
“If the ruling party is so assured of its leadership, it should show confidence in respecting civil and political rights,” said its Asian deputy director, Phil Robertson.