Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, born in 1960, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison in February on the assault charge which she says was fabricated.

Her husband, Do Ba Tan, was tried on the same charge alongside her and received a two-year suspended sentence. He appeared with her Friday.

At the court of first instance, both had rejected the accusations against them and said they themselves had been beaten.

During the opening of proceeding Friday, Thuy again maintained she was innocent.

"I am a victim, I'm not a defendant," she said before being ordered to remain silent and taken out of the courtroom.

Foreign media were barred from the courtroom itself but allowed to follow proceedings on closed-circuit television in a separate room.

Diplomats however were refused any access to the court.

In the original case, Thuy and Tan were accused of using a motorcycle helmet, a brick and a stick to beat two men during a parking dispute in Hanoi on October 8.

Their lawyer said their arrest was illegal, the police handled the case badly, the confessions of witnesses and the alleged victims were illogical, and the evidence failed to support the case.

After Thuy's arrest in October, the US embassy said it was concerned she "was beaten and arrested" after she publicly expressed support for a group of pro-democracy activists.

The six Vietnamese in the group were tried and convicted in October for "propaganda against the state" related to the hanging of democracy banners and other calls for political reform.

Thuy is an honorary member of English PEN, a London-based charity working to promote literature and human rights.

She is the author of numerous novels and political essays and also wrote a blog.

Human Rights Watch in 2007 named Thuy a winner of its Hellman/Hammett award for writers who have been targets of political persecution.

Agence France Presse - April 16, 2010