The links work for me:
http://quickstart.clari.net/qs_se/webnews/...l.RSmm_DNB.htmlHere, I'll paste it for ya:
HANOI, Nov 12 (AFP) - A former bodyguard to revered Vietnamese Communist Party founding father Ho Chi Minh was jailed for 10 months Wednesday on charges of "abusing democratic rights," the foreign ministry said.
Tran Dung Tien, a pro-democracy activist who was arrested in late January after protesting the detention of two other dissidents, was handed the sentence by the Hanoi People's Court after a trial lasting around two hours.
A court official, who requested anonymity, said Tien had "sincerely confessed" to his crime, but another source who attended the trial, which was closed to diplomats and foreign correspondents, said he rejected the charges.
"Taking into consideration the repentance and sincere confession of the defendant and the lenient policy of the state, the court sentenced him to 10 months in prison from the day of his arrest," the official said.
Foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung confirmed the retroactive nature of Tien's sentence, which was far lighter than expected, but refused to comment on the release date.
The aging revolutionary-turned-pro-democracy activist has been a vocal critic of the regime, calling for political reform and pointing to the failures of the ruling Communist Party.
"The shortness of the sentence is very surprising but he should never have been tried in the first place," said a Western diplomat.
"I don't know if this (sentence) is a reaction to international pressure or the domestic standing of the guy. It would look bad to throw the book at someone who was so close to Ho Chi Minh and who is so obviously a patriot."
The trial clashed with a landmark visit to the United States by Defence Minister Pham Van Tra, who complained in Washington on Monday about US criticism of Vietnam's human rights record.
Foreign journalists and diplomats who congregated outside the colonial-era courthouse were forced by police to move away, while undercover officers filmed the gathering.
Several other prominent dissidents also tried to enter the courthouse to support Tien but were barred.
"Tran Dung Tien was a bodyguard of Ho Chi Minh since before the time of the August (1945) Revolution, so by doing this to him the government has insulted Ho Chi Minh," said Nguyen Thanh Giang, a geophysicist and noted pro-democracy campaigner.
Hanoi has stepped up its campaign to silence political and religious dissidents over the past year, fearful they could trigger instability and threaten one-party rule.
Tien was arrested in the capital on January 22, two days after writing an open letter criticising the detention in late December of two other dissidents, former army colonel Pham Que Duong and military historian Tran Khue.
"To remain silent is to be irresponsible, for it amounts to accepting the continuation of crimes and tyranny," Tien, a Communist Party member and veteran of Vietnam's fight against the French and the Americans, said in his letter.
He was also one of 21 prominent dissidents who signed an August 2002 petition protesting against endemic government corruption and repression of critics of the government.
In June this year, Pham Hong Son, a businessman who also signed the petition, was jailed for 13 years on espionage charges after he posted an article about democracy on the Internet.
Following a widespread outcry and calls from the United States for his release, Son's sentence was cut by more than half in August on appeal.
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