Nineteen sentenced in deforestation case

Deutsche Presse-Agentur Nov. 28 reports: "Nineteen people including 10 government officials were sentenced to between 4.5 and 16 years in prison in Vietnam's biggest ever deforestation case, a court official said Sunday. The defendants were convicted of a range of offences, including illegal logging and giving and receiving bribes, the court official said. Defendants included two former forestry managers, eight forest rangers, six directors of private companies and three drivers, according to a court official from Kon Tum province who requested anonymity."