Three relatives of a dissident Catholic priest currently serving a 10-year jail sentence in Vietnam, have been jailed for between three and five years.
A court official in Ho Chi Minh City, where the three were sentenced after a half-day trial, says the jail terms are on charges of abusing freedom of democracy.
The human rights group Amnesty International says the trio, two nephews and a niece of Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, were accused of providing information to US-based organisations about the religious situation in Vietnam.
Reuters news agency says diplomats and foreign journalists were barred from attending the trial.
The trio were detained in June 2001, shortly after their uncle was taken into police custody.
10/09/2003 17:05:53 | ABC Radio Australia News