The defendant, Pham Thanh Nghien, born in 1977, lives in Dong Hai 1 Ward, Hai An District.

According to the indictment of the municipal People’s Procuracy, between 2007 and September 2008, Nghien colluded with a number of subversive elements to write stories falsifying State policy for fishermen and people living in flooded areas.

They also wrote other stories distorting domestic events, speaking ill of the Party and State, and inciting the public to sabotage the administration. They rejected the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and demanded pluralism in the country.

Nghien published these stories on websites managed by reactionaries living in exile and granted interviews to foreign reporters, distorting the truth about Vietnam, the Party leadership and State management.

Court judges said Nghien seriously violated Vietnamese law stipulated in provision1, article 88 of the Criminal Code. They ruled that after serving four years in prison, Nghien will be placed on probation for another three years.