Vietnam jails dissident

Lawyer Tran Quoc Hien, 42, received three years' prison for anti-state propaganda and two years for disrupting security, to be followed by two years' probation, said Ho Chi Minh City People's court official Phan Ba.

The half-day trial of Hien, which was open to the media, was the most recent in a series of arrests and trials of political activists in Vietnam that have drawn protests from Western governments and human rights groups.

Vietnam's foreign ministry on Monday reiterated its position that it does not jail people for their political views, only for breaking the law.

"As we have said time and time again, the Vietnamese government has always respected the rights to freedom and democracy, including the freedom of speech," the government said in a statement.