Vietnamese man charged with attempted unrest

Vietnamese police have charged a man named Nguyen Van Ly from central Hue city for propagating against the state, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Monday.

Under the charges issued on Saturday, Ly allegedly established contacts and concluded with reactionaries at home and abroad to carry out activities to oppose the Vietnamese government and try to end the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, violating the country's laws.

Ly, with the help of some local people and foreign elements allegedly tried to establish a party called Thang Tien Vietnam (Vietnam Advancement Party). The party allegedly wanted to merge with For the People Party of the overseas-based reactionary organizations to create the so-called Lac Hong Inter-Party, said the paper.

The group allegedly wanted to publicize Lac Hong Inter-party during the eve of the Lunar New Year 2007 on Feb. 17 by disseminating the group's charter via the Internet and foreign radio stations.

While searching his house, local police seized some computers, printers, dozens of Internet-enabled mobile phones, 136 SIM cards for mobile phones, and more than 200 kg of documents relating to the establishment of reactionary organizations opposing the Communist Party of Vietnam and the state.

Ly was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in 1983 for sabotaging the people's unity, and 15 years in 2001 for failing to comply with an administrative decision by state authorities and for sabotaging the policy of national unity.

After being granted amnesty in February 2005, Ly moved out of his residence 14 times without permission from probation officers.

Source: Xinhua