Defend the Defenders: Authorities in Vietnam's Central Highlands province of Gia Lai have convicted Protestant missionary Ksor Ruk of "undermining unified policy" under Article 116 of the country's 2015 Penal Code for his activities which aimed to exercise and promote the right to freedom of religion and belief. According to the state media, in a trial on March 15, the People's Court of Gia Lai sentenced missionary Ksor Ruk to ten years in prison for a trumped-up allegation of an attempt to re-establish Dega independent state. He was arrested on October 30 last year just because he worked to form a group of Protestant followers to pray together. This will be the second imprisonment of the missionary. In 2007, he was convicted of the same allegation and sentenced to six years in jail, and served his sentence in 2007-2013. According to Defend the Defenders (DTD)'s statistics, Vietnam is holding at least 54 Protestant pastors, missioner and followers on charges of "undermining policy" in the National Security provisions in the Penal Code, and the actual number may be much higher. Their sentences range from six to 20 years in jail.