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Vietnam jails 70-year-old Australian citizen for 12 years on ‘terrorism’ charges

  • Chau Van Kham left Vietnam after the war, first seeking asylum in Malaysia in 1975 before moving to Australia in 1983
  • He was found guilty of giving US$400 to fund the operations of a US-based human rights group, which Hanoi regards as a terrorist body

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Vietnamese-Australian Chau Van Kham, left, is escorted into a courtroom in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday. Photo: AP
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”, according to a lawyer who attended the trial.
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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 US-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.
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“At the trial, Kham said he loves Vietnam and doesn’t have any intention to carry out terrorism activities in the country,” Mieng said. “The prosecutors stuck to the idea that he’s a member of Viet Tan to charge him with terrorism.”

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