Vietnam Appeals Court Upholds Jail Term for Land-Grab Protester

[TomSea]

Vietnam Appeals Court Upholds Jail Term for Land-Grab Protester
2016-11-30

Can Thi Theu stands to hear the appeal court's decision, Hanoi, Nov. 30, 2016.

A court in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi on Wednesday upheld the conviction of land-grab protester Can Thi Theu, sending her back to prison to serve a 20-month term imposed in September, sources said.

Theu, 54, had been tried on charges of public disorder after being arrested in June for protesting government-sanctioned evictions used to clear the way for commercial development in Duong Noi village outside Hanoi.

It was the second time Theu had been convicted for opposing land grabs. In 2014 she was sentenced to 15 months in jail for her role in a similar protest.

Today’s court decision effectively ends Theu’s rights of appeal, Theu’s lawyer Ha Huy Son told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.

“According to the law, there are no more courts that we can appeal to after this. Now, we can only ask for a reconsideration of her case,” Son said.

“We don’t know if she will want her case to be reconsidered, but she protests today’s verdict,” he said.

Read More At: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/upholds-11302016120823.html

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