Source: BBC
Saturday, 19 January, 2002, 17:32 GMT
Reports from Vietnam say the authorities have placed a prominent dissident under house arrest. The man, Bui Minh Quoc - a journalist and poet - is accused of possessing anti-government literature, including some his own work. Family members say they have learned that he is to serve two years.
Bui Minh Quoc served a similar sentence under house arrest between 1997 and 1999. On that occasion, his case was taken up by foreign governments and human rights groups. News of this detention comes a day after Vietnam denied reports that its human rights record had deteriorated last year, saying only those who had broken Vietnam's laws had been detained.