An appeals court in
Vietnam has upheld the sentences of two prominent bloggers jailed in September
for "anti-state propaganda", a lawyer has told the BBC.
The court ruled
that the sentences and convictions of writer Nguyen Van Hai and former
policewoman Ta Phong Tan should not be overturned.
Nguyen Van Hai and
Ta Phong Tan received 12 and 10 years in jail respectively after a brief trial.
In a separate
development, another top blogger has been arrested.
Le Quoc Quan, one
of Vietnam's best-known dissidents, was arrested on Thursday on charges of tax
evasion, state media reports say.
Mr Quan was
detained as he took his children to school in Hanoi.
He has been jailed
before, and had recently complained of being under surveillance and harassment.
Vietnam's communist
rulers have opened up the economy, but suppress political opposition and ban
private media. All newspapers and television channels are state-run.
Fearful
The case of Nguyen
Van Hai, also known as Dieu Cay, has attracted international attention and was
recently highlighted by US President Barack Obama.
Nguyen Van Hai's
lawyer Ha Huy Son told the BBC Vietnamese service that the appeal failed
because the court's judgement did not fully reflect the arguments presented on
his client's behalf at the hearing.
Ta Phong Tan has
been praised by campaigning groups for her work in exposing official
corruption.
In June her mother
committed suicide by setting herself on fire in front of government offices in
protest over her continuing detention.
Le Quoc Quan writes a
popular blog exposing human rights abuses
The pair were found
guilty of posting political articles on a banned website called Free
Journalists' Club, as well as posting articles critical of the government on
their own blogs.
A third blogger,
who pleaded guilty, had his sentence reduced from four years to three.
Meanwhile the
state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that Le Quoc Quan was being held for tax
evasion.
He was treated in
hospital in August after being beaten up by men he believed were state agents.
The dissident was
so fearful of being assaulted again since the August incident that he had
reportedly begun carrying a golf club for self-defence.
Le Quoc Quan was
detained in 2007 for three months on his return from an American
government-funded fellowship in Washington.
He writes a popular
blog exposing human rights abuses and other issues not covered by the state
media.
In an interview
with the Associated Press news agency in September, he said that he and his
family and staff had received frequent warnings from the authorities.
But he pledged to
carry on speaking out against the government and in support of multi-party democracy
and freedom of speech.
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