This was a bad week for democracy in Vietnam, as two prominent activists lost appeals against their jail sentences on Tuesday and another two on Wednesday.

The provincial People’s Court in the Central Highland province of Dak Lak, rejected the appeal of Y Wo Nie while the Higher People’s Court in Hanoi dismissed the appeal of Le Van Dung on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday the Higher People’s Court in Hanoi carried out the appeal hearing of 52-year-old Le Van Dung. He was arrested in June last year and in March this year he was convicted of “conducting anti-state propaganda” and sentenced to five years in prison and five years of probation.

Dung’s appeal only lasted one hour and 45 minutes before the court upheld his sentence.

Lawyer Dang Dinh Manh, who defended Dung at his appeal, said the hearing was too shallow.

“The court asked questions very briefly, did not go into depth or give time for debate. The court also cut off the arguments of the lawyer,” Manh said.

“Having previously worked with us we know that Dung did not expect the appeal hearing would change the outcome. So when he went to court his attitude was very relaxed, very calm and he was almost smiling throughout the hearing.”

According to the lawyer, the Procurator had an attitude of not wanting to argue and only answered lawyers’ questions vaguely.

“The lawyers actually raised a lot of issues,” Manh said. “I raised four issues, but he only argued with me over one issue with only one very short sentence.”

“For example, when we argued about the issue of judicial expertise, the Procurator said that the assessors are granted the assessor’s license by the state, so they have the right and full authority over the matter of expertise and [they consider] their expertise as such is lawful. They didn’t argue against many issues we raised.”

In cases of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code or under Article 117 of the 2015 Criminal Code, the defendants’ statements on social networks are usually assessed by state agencies.

The purpose of the examination is to find content that is alleged to violate the above laws.

Also according to Dung's defense, the lawyers could not argue further with the Procuracy because the presiding judge interrupted, saying "there is no further consensus on anything."

Manh said Dung still insisted he did not break the law, but only exercised his right to freedom of expression as prescribed by the Constitution.

“No one is surprised with the result of the hearing,” Manh said. “We all understand the way the Vietnamese court works, so we don't expect a big change, not even a small change. In general, we disagree with the accusations against Dung in both hearings."

The lawyer said Dung should not have been arrested and prosecuted just for voicing his opinions since the right to freedom of expression is enshrined in the Constitution. He said the Vietnamese government also has a responsibility to respect this right, having signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The hearings drew criticism from international human rights organizations.

Human Rights Watch called for the court to release Le Van Dung, and accused the Vietnamese government of suppressing human rights.

“The politically motivated, totally bogus conviction of Le Van Dung should be quashed and he should be immediately released, “said Asia Regional Vice President Phil Robertson.

“Using the Internet to speak out about injustice and demand reforms should not be considered a crime. By prosecuting him, Vietnam shows what a dictatorial, rights-abusing state it has become. Le Van Dung’s five-year prison verdict in March exemplifies the way officials retaliate against outspoken citizens for simply speaking their minds.”

Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director Ming Yu Hah also criticized the appeal.

“This appeal hearing once again shows the failure of the Vietnamese government to fulfill its human rights obligations,” she said.

“Le Van Dung is an independent journalist and has fought for the freedom of expression of disadvantaged groups in society, as well as for social transparency. His efforts should be applauded, not jailed for speaking his mind.”

“The Vietnamese government should immediately release Le Van Dung and many other human rights activists, such as Pham Doan Trang, Can Thi Theu, Trinh Ba Phuong, Trinh Ba Tu, and Nguyen Thi Tam."

“Dung is known for his live broadcasts on Facebook under the name CHTV, through which this journalist specializes in helping farmers whose land has been expropriated to ‘claim their grievances’ and at the same time provide comments on the socio-political situation in Vietnam.”