A Vietnamese human rights lawyer has been released after serving a four-year prison term for advocating a multi-party state in Vietnam.
Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai told VOA's Vietnamese service Monday that he had been required to serve the full term because he refused to admit that his actions had violated any law.
Dai, who was released Sunday, was given a five-year sentence in May 2007 under a law that makes it illegal to spread propaganda against the state. The sentence was later reduced to four years, but Dai must still serve an additional four years of house arrest.
Another lawyer, Le Thi Cong, participated with Dai in posting appeals for a multi-party state on the Internet and giving interviews to foreign news agencies. She was sentenced to three years in prison and released a year ago.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
