Not his Kind of Party

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Given that he stood accused of "abusing democratic freedoms," the 10-month prison sentence handed down to Tran Dung Tien in Hanoi last Wednesday was light. Tien, 78, had openly criticized corruption in Vietnam's Communist Party, but he's no garden-variety dissident. Tien joined the revolt against the French in the 1940s, was a longtime Party member—and for a few years served as the personal bodyguard of Ho Chi Minh.

Vietnam frequently jails citizens who call for reform or democracy—and it even has a problem with its Old Guard. "These guys are considered dangerous," says a Western diplomat in Hanoi, because "they're saying the government has become the kind of institution they fought against." In 1999, war hero Lieut. General Tran Do was expelled from the Party for airing his disenchantment, and several veterans quit the Party in protest. Tien, who left the Party a year before, issued a stream of public protests. Hoang Minh Chinh, 81, a war veteran who's been imprisoned several times, was at the courthouse last week to support Tien. "If I am afraid to speak out," he said, "I am no better than a slave." For some old revolutionaries, the fight goes on.