The People’s Court in the south central province of Khánh Hòa on Thursday sentenced Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh, better known as ‘Mother Mushroom’, to 10 years in prison for conducting anti-State propaganda under Clause 1 of Article 88 of the Penal Code. — Photo vietnamnet.vn

KHÁNH HÒA — The People’s Court in the south central province of Khánh Hòa on Thursday sentenced Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh, better known as ‘Mother Mushroom’, to 10 years in prison for conducting anti-State propaganda under Clause 1 of Article 88 of the Penal Code.

Quỳnh, born July 18, 1979, resided in Vĩnh Phước Ward of Nha Trang City, Khánh Hòa Province. She was arrested by the Investigation Security Agency of the Khánh Hòa Department of Public Security on October 10, 2016.

According to the indictment, Quỳnh opened a Facebook account in 2010 named “Mẹ Nấm” (Mother Mushroom) which was later renamed “Mẹ Nấm Gấu”, “Nguyễn Như Quỳnh” and “Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh”.

According to the indictment, from 2012 to October 2016, she used her Facebook page to draft, post and share articles with false content that distorted, criticised and defamed the guidelines and policies of the Communist Party of Việt Nam and law of the State of Việt Nam, falsified Việt Nam’s revolutionary history and split national unity.

The articles gave one-sided views that stirred public worries and affected people’s trust in the Party’s leadership and the State’s governance and management of society and incited people to resist the State, thus harming national security and social order and safety, the indictment said.

From 2013 to 2016, Quỳnh also gave interviews to foreign press and media outlets, in which she distorted the domestic situation in many fields, from history, economy, politics, defence, diplomacy, law to democracy and human rights.

In 2014, she collected information from online newspapers about 31 people who reportedly died after working with the police and then created a file named “Stop police killing civilians” to post on her Facebook page.

However, authorities claim Quỳnh did not thoroughly grasp the official information on these cases provided by authorised agencies and intentionally distorted the truth to make readers misunderstand the issues, insulted and lowered the prestige of the people’s public security force and blighted the relationship between the people and the public security force.

She also organised or took part in activities and events which aimed to incite people to oppose the State, according to the indictment.

A representative of the People’s Procuracy of Khánh Hòa Province said the charge is subject to sentences of between 3-12 years in prison. — VNS