Vietnam has given prison sentences of up to 10 years to eight men from the Montagnard ethnic group who helped others flee a government crackdown last year, state media reported Thursday.
A court in central Daklak province on Wednesday found the men guilty of "organizing illegal migration to Cambodia" and "undermining state and Communist Party policy," the Vietnam News Agency said.
In 2001, thousands of members of the Montagnard minority participated in unprecedented protests in the Central Highland provinces of Daklak and Gia Lai over land confiscation and restrictions of their Protestant religion.
Group leader Y Thuon Nie, 30, was sentenced to 10 years in jail, while the other seven men were given eight years each at the one-day trial Wednesday. The men, all members of the Ede tribe, were also given four years of house arrest after their jail terms.
The remaining men were identified as Y Pum Bya, 38; Y Tien Nie Kdam, 23; Y Boh Lieng, 32; Yaro Nie, 38; Y Lem Bkrong, 41; Y Ju Nie, 39; and Y Nai Mlo, 37.
The men were accused of contacting former members of the guerrilla group FULRO who are now living in the United States to "sow disunity" among the hill tribes in the Central Highlands. FULRO fought on the U.S. side in the Vietnam War.
Vietnam has claimed the U.S.-based Montagnard Foundation helped instigate last year's protests.
The eight men, who had been involved in the February protests, were also charged with going into Daklak province villages to "propagandize, cheat, lure and force" ethnic minority people into fleeing Vietnam.
Last year, American officials gave political asylum to about 900 people living in refugee camps in eastern Cambodia and resettled them in the United States.
Earlier this month, Amnesty International accused Vietnam of continuing to block international access to the Central Highlands region, persecuting ethnic villagers, and targeting non-sanctioned Protestant churches affiliated with an independence movement in the region.