Khanh Hoa (VNA) – Three defendants in the central province of Khanh Hoa got sentences on charges of “making, storing, distributing, or disseminating information, documents, and items against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Clause 1, Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code.

The provincial People’s Court sentenced Nguyen Thi Cam Thuy, 45, to nine years in prison; Ngo Thi Ha Phuong, 25, to seven years in jail; and Le Viet Hoa, 59, to five years.

From mid-2018, Thuy regularly used different Facebook accounts to upload videos insulting and harming the honour and prestige of the Party and State leaders, blackening and offending President Ho Chi Minh, and distorting the State policies and guidelines. More seriously, she burned the national and Party flags, and distorted the national history.

She travelled to many localities to meet individuals and collect distorted information about President Ho Chi Minh and corruption cases to slam the Party guidelines, the State policies and laws, as well as blacken the images of President Ho Chi Minh and Party, State and Government leaders.

She herself produced videos to upload and spread on the Internet to incite others and erode public trust, and made calls to gather forces to establish an opposition political organisation named “Quoc hoi tu xung” (Self-reclaimed National Assembly).

On April 28-29, 2020, Thuy burned the national and Party flags, recorded videos and spread them on the Internet.

Thuy also received assistance from Phuong and Hoa. They also used their bank accounts to receive donations from individuals at home and abroad./.