Hanoi (AsiaNews) - The Vietnamese government yesterday sentenced Pham Thanh Nghien, a Vietnamese dissident writer to 4 years in prison plus 3 under house arrest after a half-day trial in the northern city of Haiphong. The charge, typical of such farcical trials, is of "spreading propaganda against the state."

Nghien, 32, was convicted in November 2008 for protesting against the Vietnamese position – which she considered too soft – over control of the Paracel and Spratly Islands, disputed with China, and requested the authorities for permission (denied ) to hold a demonstration against a rise in inflation.

However, according to her lawyer, at yesterday's hearing - held behind closed doors – she was charged in relation to defamation of public officials, in an article in which Nghien accused them of pocketing money intended for families of Vietnamese fishermen killed by the Chinese navy in an accident in 2007.