Man jailed for five years for abusing rights to freedom, democracy

The People's Court of Duc Hoa district in the Mekong Delta province of Long An on July 21 sentenced Le Tung Van in the case relating to a family Buddhist worship place named “Tinh that bong lai"  to five years in prison for “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to violate interests of the State, rights and legitimate interests of organisations and individuals”.

At the trial held for the 90-year-old man and his accomplices at the People’s Court on the same day, Le Thanh Hoan Nguyen, 32 years old; Le Thanh Nhat Nguyen, 31; and Le Thanh Trung Duong, 27, were given a jail term of four years in prison each.

Meanwhile,  Le Thanh Nhi Nguyen, 24; and Cao Thi Cuc, 62, were sentenced to three years and six months, and three years in prison, respectively.

All the defendants have been prosecuted for “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to violate interests of the State, rights and legitimate interests of organisations and individuals” under Article 331 of the 2015 Penal Code (revised and supplemented in 2017).

According to the indictment, between 2019 and 2021, the six defendants and Le Thu Van published five video clips and an article on social networks, which contain distorted information aiming to defame Duc Hoa district’s police and insult Buddhism and other individuals.

The jail sentence for Le Thu Van will be decided later as she left her residence and has not been arrested so far./.