Facebooker imprisoned for anti-Party, anti-State propaganda
The People’s Court of Binh Thuy district in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on April 22 sentenced a woman to two years in prison for “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to violate the interests of the State, the rights and legitimate interests of organisations and individuals.”
According to the indictment, Le Thi Binh, born in 1976 and a resident of An Thoi ward in Binh Thuy district, used several Facebook accounts, namely “Binh Le” (then renamed “Le Ngoclan Ct”), “Ngoc Lan CT Ngoc CT Le”, and “Anna Nguyen”.
From October 2019 to November 2020, she frequently used these accounts to conduct livestreams and post and share articles that defamed, offended, and distorted Party and State organisations and leaders.
The jury held that the defendant took advantage of the right to freedom of speech to post articles and livestream on the social network, which attracted a large number of views and comments, to erode Party and State leaders’ prestige and people’s trust.
Binh’s acts broke laws, violated the interests of the State and the rights and legitimate interests of organisations and individuals, and negatively affected local order and security, which called for strict punishment.
Given this, the court decided to hand down a two-year sentence.
