Nguyễn Thị Trí, one of sentenced three women were sentenced to prison for anti-State propaganda at a trial yesterday.— Photo sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY – The HCM City People’s Court sentenced three women to prison for anti-State propaganda at a trial yesterday.

According to the jury, Ngô Thị Minh Ước (born in 1959) along with Nguyễn Thị Trí and Nguyễn Thị Bé Hai (both born in 1958) made, stored and distributed anti-State documents.

They were found guilty of anti-State propaganda as stipulated in Article 88 of the Penal Code.

Ngô Thị Minh Ước from Tiền Giang Province received a total prison sentence of four years and three months. The three-month imprisonment is the sentence in another verdict given by the People’s Court of southern Binh Phuoc province.

She will also be kept under surveillance at her place of residence for three years after she completes her jail term.

Ước also has two previous convictions for intentionally causing injury and disturbing public order.

Each of her accomplices, Trí (from Bình Dương Province) and Hai (from Tây Ninh Province), will be jailed for three years and under surveillance at their places of residence for two years.

The imprisonment periods are calculated from July 7, 2014.

At the trial, Ước confessed that she induced her accomplices to come to her house on July 3, 2014 and make five big flags and 50 smaller ones (with the aim of distributing them to other people) along with many anti-State banners. The flags and banners were used in a demonstration four days later.

The three defendants said they conducted the activities on their own and were not incited by anyone.

According to the indictment, police of Bến Thành ward in HCM City’s District 1 arrested Ước, Trí and Hai in the morning of July 7, 2014, while they were waving flags that were not Việt Nam’s national flag, and holding banners and chanting anti-State slogans in the downtown area of the city.

Police searched their houses and seized a number of exhibits with anti-Party and State content.

Ước, Trí and Hai had repeatedly gathered to spread anti-State messages after their land-related claims in Bình Phước, Bình Dương and Đồng Tháp provinces were not resolved as they had wanted.

They were previously involved in many illegal demonstrations in HCM City and were fined for disturbing public order. However, they refused to pay the fines and continued to commit violations.

On the same day at another trial, the HCM City People’s Court sentenced a man to four years in prison for anti-State propaganda following Article 88 of the Penal Code.

Nguyễn Đình Ngọc (born in 1966) will also be kept under surveillance at his place of residence for three years after he completes his jail term.

According to the jury, Ngọc made, stored and distributed anti-State documents. He was arrested on December 27, 2014. — VNS