(WiPC/IFEX) - 21 September 2011 - The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International protests the four-year sentence handed down to activist and writer Lu Van Bay on 22 August 2011 for his critical online writings. PEN International calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Lu Van Bay and all those currently detained in Vietnam in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Vietnam is a signatory. According to PEN's information, Lu Van Bay was arrested at his home by police on 26 March 2011, who also seized his computer and several of his articles. Six months later, he was sentenced to four years in prison and three years' of house arrest following a half-day trial under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Criminal Code for "conducting propaganda against the regime". He was charged specifically for ten articles he posted on various overseas Internet sites over the last four years, calling for the end of one-party rule in the country and the introduction of a multiparty system. The judge also stated that Bay "confessed" to the crime and asked for leniency. Lu Van Bay, aged 59, is a prominent pro-democracy activist and a prolific Internet writer. He focuses on social and political issues including freedom of expression and of the press. He has contributed to a number of websites such as Dan Chim Viet (Vietnamese Birds), Doi Thoa (Dialogue) and To Quoc (Fatherland). For security reasons, he has written under various pseudonyms, including Tran Bao Viet, a pen-name he used since 2010. Dozens of political critics and activists have been sentenced to long prison terms in Vietnam since its government began a concerted crackdown on freedom of expression in October 2009. They include French-Vietnamese university teacher and writer Pham Minh Hoang, who was sentenced on 10 August 2011 to three years in prison for his critical online writings. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals: __� Protesting the sentence handed down to activist and Internet writer Lu Van Bay solely for the peaceful expression of his views; __� Expressing serious concern about the large numbers of dissidents and Internet writers currently detained in Vietnam, many of whom are serving lengthy sentences; __� Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Lu Van Bay and all those currently detained in Vietnam in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is a signatory.