Four get up to 10 years in prison for anti-state propaganda

Nguyen Thi Cam Thuy, 45, got nine years in prison, Ngo Thi Ha Phuong, 25, got seven years and Le Viet Hoa, 59, got five years, Phap Luat TPHCM newspaper reported.

The Khanh Hoa Province trio were found guilty of "making, possessing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the state."

Since 2018, with assistance from Phuong and Hoa, Thuy made and posted video clips with "distorted" contents against the Vietnamese Communist Party and the state.

They traveled to many places to meet individuals and collect false information about President Ho Chi Minh and corruption cases to blacken the image of the former president and Party, state, and government leaders and vilify the Party’s guidelines, the state's policies and laws.

Thuy produced videos to upload on the Internet to incite other people and erode public trust and established an anti-state organization, "Quoc hoi tu xung" (Self-reclaimed National Assembly).

She burned the national and Party flags and livestreamed it on social media.

Their anti-state activities were funded by individuals in Vietnam and abroad.

The fourth accused, Vu Tien Chi, 55, of Lam Dong Province was handed 10 years in jail also for spreading "anti-state propaganda" on social media.

He shared 338 articles and 181 videos on his social media to "distort and defame the people's administration and infringe on the interests of the Communist Party of Vietnam and state," the Ministry of Public Security said in a press release.

Under the Penal Code, anti-government propaganda is punishable by up to 20 years in jail.