Facebooker Tran Van Bang jailed for anti-State activities in Vietnam

Bang, 56, will also be put on probation for three years after completing the prison sentence.

The ruling was handed down by the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City during a trial on May 12.

According to the indictment, Bang opened three facebook accounts to post 39 articles with false information in an attempt to speak ill of the people’s government, causing public confusion.

He called for a boycott of the National Assembly election in Vietnam in 2021 and showed hatred and dissatisfaction towards the Party and the State, as well as the leaders.

Bang also possessed many documents and publications, including four documents with propaganda content against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, undermining the great national unity bloc and inciting wars of aggression and hatred among nations and peoples.

In the courtroom, the defendant confessed that some of the above documents had been provided by Pham Thi Doan Trang and Pham Chi Thanh.

Trang and Thanh were both anti-State instigators. Trang was sentenced in August 2022 to nine years in prison for disseminating information against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Meanwhile, a Hanoi court in July 2021 passed down a five-year and six-month jail on Thanh for making, storing, and disseminating information and documents against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The May 12 court ruled that Bang’s criminal offence was very dangerous to society, and infringing upon national security, that should be seriously handled.