A Vietnamese court has convicted four political dissidents of subversion and sentenced them to up to 16 years in prison. The four went on trial in Ho Chi Minh City Wednesday for taking part in "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration," including promoting a multiparty state and collaborating with exiled Vietnamese pro-democracy groups.  U.S.-educated human rights lawyer  Le Cong Dinh and Le Thang Long received five-year sentences after the one-day trial.  A third defendant, Nguyen Tien Trung, received a seven-year sentence, while Internet entrepreneur Tran Huynh Duy

Prisoner of conscience Father Nguyen Van Ly was returned to prison from hospital on 11 December: he had not fully recovered from a stroke. He is partially paralyzed on one side. The prison authorities are not providing him with adequate medical care, and his health is in danger. On 11 December Father Nguyen Van Ly was moved back to Ba Sao prison from Prison Hospital 198, administered by the Ministry of Public Security in Ha Noi, where he had been recovering from a stroke he suffered on 14 November.