Court upholds sentences against anti-State instigators
The High-Level People’s Court in Hanoi on July 10 maintained prison sentences handed down on three men on the charge of conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam by the first instance court.
 |
According to the appeal court’s verdict, Thuan will spend eight years behinds bars and be put under surveillance for five years after he completes the jail term. Meanwhile, Dien and Phuc received prison sentences of six and a half years, and six years, respectively, along with four-year surveillance each.
Based on the content of seized video clips, objects and documents, statements of the defendants and witnesses, legal assessments and public debates at court, the judging panel concluded that between October 2016 to early March 2017, Thuan, Dien and Phuc produced and posted 17 video clips on the internet, stored documents that defame the administration. The trio spread distorted and fabricated information on the Party leadership as well as the State management and instruction during national construction, development and defence. They also defamed and insulted Party and State leaders.
Their acts aim to propagandise and incite people to oppose the State and stir public anxiety, the judging panel said.
