A Hanoi court on Monday convicted former army officer Tran Anh Kim of "carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" and sentenced him to five-and-a-half years in prison. His "crime" was to post pro-democracy articles on his Web site. The presiding judge dubbed this a "violation of national security" under Article 79 of the penal code.

The verdict represents a serious backtrack on human rights. Hanoi last used "subversion" to repress peaceful dissent in 1988, when two Buddhist monks were convicted and sentenced to death for demanding religious freedom, until international protests forced the government to commute the sentences to 20 years in jail.

Mr. Kim's conviction is the first in a series of five trials of democratic reform supporters to come over the next few months, including that of Le Cong Dinh, an American-educated lawyer who has defended human-rights supporters and called for multiparty democracy. Like Mr. Kim, the four others were arrested this summer and charged with spreading antigovernment propaganda. They were formally charged last week with attempting to overthrow the state.

It's unclear why Vietnam's leaders are suddenly taking such a hard line against freedom of expression. Mr. Kim's conviction may simply be a panicked reply to an opposition gaining grassroots support. Or it may be an attempt to send a message to pro-reform cadres and unify the Party in advance of next year's National Congress.

Whatever the reason, Mr. Kim's conviction sends a clear message that despite Vietnam's aspirations to integrate more closely with the rest of the world through trade and political dialogue, it is still at root a deeply insecure and backward authoritarian regime. Its people, represented so bravely by Mr. Kim and other dissidents, deserve better.

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