TWO European freelance journalists and their Laos-born US translator were sentenced yesterday to 15 years in a Laotian jail in a decision expected to have diplomatic repercussions similar to the Kerry and Kay Danes affair.

French cameraman Vincent Reynaud, Belgian photojournalist Thierry Falise and a Hmong-American pastor, Naw Karl Mua, were arrested in early June after they spent two weeks filming ethnic Hmong rebels who have waged a 25-year war against the communist Government.

The case has generated interest in Europe and has been likened to the diplomatic wrangling over the Danes, the Australian couple who served 12 months of a seven-year sentence for gem smuggling.

Ms Danes, who with her husband was released after the Australian Government intervened, now runs a website from Brisbane in support of prisoners in Laos.

She said last night the case demonstrated it was still not safe for foreigners in Laos.

She said the Government had tried to hide its war with the Hmong, the remnants of a CIA-backed army who have fought the communists since the Vietnam War. "The politburo must have really closed ranks on this one," she said.

"This is a bit different than accusing a couple of foreigners of stealing sapphires; journalists are a lot more credible. They're going to have a great story, but will they ever get out to tell it?"

The journalists did not know until the two-hour trial began that they had been accused of possessing an explosive device.

They were also charged with obstructing the investigation - reportedly because they did not tell police about the bomb - and ordered to each pay $US1000 ($1500) to the family of a security guard who died after the rebels fought with a group of villagers.

Three Laotians were also tried on the same charges and received the same sentences. A fourth, who escaped arrest, was sentenced in absentia. Sources close to the families said last night the journalists had not known of the bomb in a bag authorities found in a hut after a clash in a village on June 3, the night before the arrest.

The trial was conducted in Phonesavanh, 110km northeast of the capital, Vientiane.

The French Foreign Ministry and the European Union issued statements suggesting relations between Europe and Laos would be damaged if the three were not released.

A US push to normalise trade relations with Laos would also be affected, members of Congress said.

After the sentence was handed down, the US embassy in Vientiane said the trial had "fallen well short" of international standards.

"We do not believe the trial and its outcome served the cause of justice," the embassy said, and pledged to continue to fight for Reverend Naw Karl Mua's return to the US.

US Ambassador Douglas Hartwick and his French counterpart Bernard Pottier attended the trial, after which the defendants were driven off to an undisclosed location.

Amnesty International expressed "deep shock" at the decision. "Fifteen-year prison terms after a trial lasting two hours defies belief," it said.

Spokesman Daniel Alberman said last night he was particularly concerned about the fate of the Laos nationals, whose identities are unknown.

Archived from The Australian