Activists defiant as Vietnam court upholds conviction

By Grant McCool

HANOI (Reuters) - Two jailed political activists defiantly called for multi-party democracy and more freedom of speech in one-party ruled Vietnam on Tuesday as an appeals court upheld their conviction, with slightly reduced prison terms.

Lawyers for Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, whose release has been called for by the European Union and the United States, argued before Superior Court judges in the communist-run country that their clients were peaceful and should be set free.

But the panel of judges ruled that Dai should serve four years imprisonment and four years under "administrative surveillance", or house arrest -- one year less for both parts of the sentence handed down by the Hanoi People's Court in May.

"I demand democracy, freedom and a multiparty system so that the Vietnamese people can exercise their right to freely choose the party to lead the whole country," Dai, 38, said in his statement to the court before the verdict.

There are about three million party members in the underdeveloped Southeast Asian country's population of 85 million.

The government says the two activists, both lawyers, broke the law and were not convicted for their political views.

Nhan's jail sentence was also reduced by one year to three years from four years. Her term under surveillance was reduced to three years from four years.

Bespectacled Nhan, who was wearing a red sweater over a light blue shirt, told the judges: "I believe in freedom of speech. Even now I raise my voice for freedom of speech as it is a basic freedom."