Vietnamese authorities arrested two pro-democracy activists accused of attempting to overthrow the communist government, state-run media reported Tuesday.
Both the arrested dissidents had served in Vietnam army, the online newspaper VN Express said. Nguyen Tien Trung, 26, was arrested at home in Southern Ho Chi Minh city on Tuesday, a day after he had been discharged from the army. Army veteran Lieutenant Colonel Tran Anh Kim, 60, was taken into custody in northern Thai Binh province on Monday.
In a news conference held in Hanoi on Tuesday, police accused Trung, who obtained a Master Degree in Science at the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Rennes France in 2007, of establishing an organization called the Movement of Democratic Youth that aimed to collude with anti-government forces at home and overseas to bring about a 'change of political regime' in Vietnam.
Police said Trung wrote blogs, distributed several documents, ran the 'Democracy Youth Forum' on the internet and made speeches at meetings to incite people to oppose the government.
He was also accused of inciting university students to protest China's move to set up an administrative district for the disputed Spratlys and Paracel islands in the South China Sea in December 2007.
Trung also allegedly attempted to instigate demonstrations against the Olympic torch relay in Ho Chi Minh City in April last year, the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.
Tran Anh Kim, a member of the pro-democracy grouping Bloc 8406 and general secretary of the Vietnam Democratic Party, was arrested on Monday on a charge of 'acting to undermine the State, violating Article 88 of Vietnam's Criminal Code.'
Kim was accused of working with exile groups in the United States including Viet Tan, which the communist country considers a terrorist organization, to sabotage the government, VNA said.
Vietnamese authorities have recently arrested at least 30 dissidents, including a number of prominent lawyers, in an attempt to stifle freedom of expression and association. The new wave of arrests came three weeks after the detention of Le Cong Dinh, a prominent lawyer known for his pro-democracy writings and defense of human rights activists, and within a week after a group of 37 U.S. senators urged Vietnam's president to free Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest who had spent 16 years in prison for rights advocacy activities. Fr. Thadeus Nguyen was jailed for eight years in March 2007 on charges that he spread propaganda against Vietnam's communist government.
Both the arrested dissidents had served in Vietnam army, the online newspaper VN Express said. Nguyen Tien Trung, 26, was arrested at home in Southern Ho Chi Minh city on Tuesday, a day after he had been discharged from the army. Army veteran Lieutenant Colonel Tran Anh Kim, 60, was taken into custody in northern Thai Binh province on Monday.
In a news conference held in Hanoi on Tuesday, police accused Trung, who obtained a Master Degree in Science at the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Rennes France in 2007, of establishing an organization called the Movement of Democratic Youth that aimed to collude with anti-government forces at home and overseas to bring about a 'change of political regime' in Vietnam.
Police said Trung wrote blogs, distributed several documents, ran the 'Democracy Youth Forum' on the internet and made speeches at meetings to incite people to oppose the government.
He was also accused of inciting university students to protest China's move to set up an administrative district for the disputed Spratlys and Paracel islands in the South China Sea in December 2007.
Trung also allegedly attempted to instigate demonstrations against the Olympic torch relay in Ho Chi Minh City in April last year, the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.
Tran Anh Kim, a member of the pro-democracy grouping Bloc 8406 and general secretary of the Vietnam Democratic Party, was arrested on Monday on a charge of 'acting to undermine the State, violating Article 88 of Vietnam's Criminal Code.'
Kim was accused of working with exile groups in the United States including Viet Tan, which the communist country considers a terrorist organization, to sabotage the government, VNA said.
Vietnamese authorities have recently arrested at least 30 dissidents, including a number of prominent lawyers, in an attempt to stifle freedom of expression and association. The new wave of arrests came three weeks after the detention of Le Cong Dinh, a prominent lawyer known for his pro-democracy writings and defense of human rights activists, and within a week after a group of 37 U.S. senators urged Vietnam's president to free Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest who had spent 16 years in prison for rights advocacy activities. Fr. Thadeus Nguyen was jailed for eight years in March 2007 on charges that he spread propaganda against Vietnam's communist government.