Vietnam police arrest dissident for attempt "to overthrow government"

HANOI - 25 July 2017: Police in Vietnam have arrested a prominent dissident they have accused of conducting activities aimed at overthrowing the government, in what appeared to be latest effort by the Communist-ruled country to crack down on critics, The Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.

Police in central Nghe An said Le Dinh Luong, 51, was arrested on Monday. They said on their news website Luong had conducted "regular activities with the aim to overthrow the authority and complicate local security" but did not elaborate.

It was not possible to contact Luong and it was not known if he had legal representation.
Despite sweeping reforms to the economy and growing openness to social change, Vietnam's Communist Party retains tight media censorship and does not tolerate criticism.

Several dissidents and bloggers voiced support for Luong online. With information tightly controlled by the government, some critics take to web blogs to air their grievances and social media sites, including Facebook, are hugely popular.

In June, a Vietnamese court jailed prominent blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, known as "Me Nam" (Mother Mushroom) for 10 years for publishing propaganda against the state.