A Vietnamese human rights lawyer has been released from prison after serving a three-year sentence for advocating for a multi-party government in Internet posts, reports the Associated Press on March 8. Le Thi Cong Nhan, 30, was released March 6 from prison in northern Thanh Hoa province and was escorted by police to her home in Hanoi where she still has to serve three years of house arrest. In May 2007, Nhan was sentenced by a Hanoi court for violating Article 88 of Vietnam’s penal code, which broadly prohibits spreading propaganda against the Communist state. A fellow lawyer who was convicted along with Nhan, Nguyen Van Dai, was sentenced to five years in prison. Over the past four months, Vietnam has jailed 16 pro-democracy activists. Among them was attorney Le Cong Dinh, who represented Nhan during her trial. Authorities sent Dinh to prison in January after convicting him of subversion charges unrelated to Nhan’s case.
