Defense lawyers said three of the defendants were sentenced Wednesday to 13 years after a two-day trial at the People's Court in Nghe An province in central Vietnam, while 11 others were handed prison sentences ranging from three to eight years, with one of the three-year terms suspended.
These three sentences do nothing less than blow apart the central tenet of modern conservative economic theory, confirming that lowering tax rates on the wealthy does nothing to grow the economy while doing a great deal to concentrate more wealth in the pockets of those at the very top of the income chain.
The sentences came as courts in Myanmar are prosecuting cases stemming from the clashes in the central town of Meikhtila between majority Buddhists and minority Muslims that left at least 42 people dead and thousands homeless, authorities said Tuesday.