'I DON'T KNOW whether his opinions are right or wrong,' said Le Chi Quang's mother after he was sentenced last November to four years' imprisonment and three vears' house arrest. 'But in no civilised country does one get imprisoned for expressing a wrong opinion.'

Her words went to the heart of the case against Le, a 32-year-old writer and IT teacher in Vietnam. There is an apparent discrepancy between the claims of the authorities and those of hls supporters. The authorities insist that he pleaded guilty at hs trial, whlle hs supporters insist he