Vietnam jails Australian citizen for 12 years on 'terrorism' charges

HANOI (Reuters) - A court in Vietnam sentenced a 70-year-old Vietnamese-Australian man on Monday to 12 years in prison after finding him guilty of “terrorism”, a lawyer who attended the trial told Reuters.

The Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on its official news website that Chau Van Kham was being tried for being a member of the U.S.-based human rights group Viet Tan, which Vietnam regards as a “terrorist” body. It made no mention of the verdict.

It said Kham had helped raised funds for anti-state activities, joined anti-Vietnam protests in Australia and recruited members for Viet Tan.

Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and does not tolerate criticism from both within and outside Vietnam.

The People’s Court of Ho Chi Mih City also ordered Kham, a retired baker from New South Wales of Vietnamese origin, to be deported after serving the sentence, lawyer Nguyen Van Mieng said.