Vietnamese dissident bloggers unfazed by 20-year jail threats by the State...

An arrest warrant carrying the threat of a long jail sentence for the people behind three dissident blogs in Vietnam has been issued but bloggers Dan Lam Bao (not his real name) and Tran Hung Quoc said they would not give up - no matter what the government threw at them.

"We have no choice. Twenty years in jail to reclaim our rights as human beings is a price we are willing to pay if that is what it takes," said Dan.

A string of similar cases has already resulted in the death of the mother of one blogger, who set herself on fire in protest at the detention of her daughter in August. Dang Thi Kim Lieng, 64, died on the way to hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

Her daughter, Ta Phong Tan, a former police officer who wrote a blog on social issues, was arrested in September 2011 on charges of propaganda against the state.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has turned up the pressure on bloggers and ordered police to crack down. He specifically targeted Dan Lam Bao, Quan Lam Bao and Bien Dong. Full story...

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