HCM City — The People’s Court of HCM City yesterday sentenced Bùi Hiếu Võ from the central province of Hà Tĩnh to four and a half years in prison for “conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam”. 

According to the indictment, 56-year-old Võ, a resident in Gò Vấp District, HCM City, made comments and collected documents on social networks to oppose the authorities’ settlement of the Formosa-related marine environmental incident in several central provinces and land compensation in Đồi Nhái in the southern province of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu. 

He accessed unofficial, groundless documents online. Since September 2015, Võ had used a Facebook account named “Hieu Bui” to post information distorting, criticising and opposing policies of the Communist Party of Việt Nam and the Vietnamese State, as well as Party and State leaders. 

His fabricated information provoked public unrest, and disrupted political security and social order and safety, the indictment said. 

On March 17, 2017, the security agency conducted an urgent search on Võ’s apartment on Nguyễn Văn Công Street where police officers collected 57 documents stored in the Facebook account of “Hieu Bui.” 

Similar documents were also found in his laptop and other social accounts and email, along with 36 printed documents. 

According to the HCM City Department of Information and Communications, 25 of the documents included contents defaming and slandering Party and State leaders, and 14 others inciting violence, harming national security and social order and safety. 

At court, Võ admitted his wrongdoings and committed to not repeating such actions.

Political defamer arrested

Thanh Hóa police yesterday announced that they have arrested a man for allegedly abusing democratic rights to defame Party, State and provincial leaders.

37-year-old Nguyễn Duy Sơn from Sầm Sơn City was detained on Tuesday afternoon. According to the police investigation, Sơn signed up and used a Facebook account of “Nguyễn Sơn” to post and share distorted information to humiliate and discredit several officials between December 2017 and March 2018.

Sơn used to work as a management staff member at the Sầm Sơn College Preparatory School before he was fired.

His actions were deemed to harm the credibility of the Party and the State, stir public doubt on officials and leaders. — VNS