Vietnam jails 55-year-old Facebook user for 10 years for 'spreading anti-state propaganda'

A court in Vietnam on March 30 sentenced a Facebook user to ten years in prison after finding him guilty of “spreading anti-state propaganda” on social media. In a news release, Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security said that at a one-day trial in Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, 55-year-old Vu Tien Chi was convicted of making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the state. The ministry added Chi was accused of sharing 338 articles and 181 videos on his social media to “distort” and “defame” the people’s administration, infringe the interests of the Community Party of Vietnam and the state. 

Chi has been charged under Article 117 of the Penal Code of 2015. According to a local Vietnamese media outlet, earlier, police had also said that Chi shared the “anti-state” content across several Facebook accounts. Back in 2018, the 55-year-old had investigated foreign press reports and websites that carry content that criticised the policies and directives of the Part and the State of Vietnam, distorts history and defamed former President Ho Chi Minh and the leaders of the country. Later, Chi even regularly wrote complaints against police officers and local authorities with “false” content and images. 

Chi’s behaviour is ‘dangerous’ 

Chi was arrested by the police on June 23, 2020, with numerous objects such as telephones, computers and electronic devices for the live transmission of the documents and videos against the Party and the State. After realising that Chi’s behaviour is “dangerous” to society, the provincial People’s Court sentenced the 55-year-old to ten years in prison and additional three-year probation in the locality after the expiration of his jail time. 

It is worth noting that despite sweeping economic reforms and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and tolerates little criticism. The party has even intensified a crackdown on dissent, with a record number of political prisoners, longer jail terms and increased harassment of activists in recent years. Previously, three other people were also on trial in the central province of Khanh Hoa over similar charges, state media reported.  

(Image: Pixabay/AP)