Khanh Hoa (VNA) – The Da Nang-basedCouncil of Judges of the Vietnam Supreme People’s Court on November 30 upheld a10-year imprisonment sentence for Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, aka facebooker “MeNam”, who was convicted of propagandising against the State of the SocialistRepublic of Vietnam under Article 88 of the Penal Code.

The appeal trial took place in Nha Trang city,the central province of Khanh Hoa.

Quynh, born in 1979, resided in Vinh Phuoc wardof Nha Trang city. She was taken into custody by the Investigation SecurityAgency of the Khanh Hoa Department of Public Security on October 10, 2016.

According to the indictment, from 2012 toOctober 2016, she used her personal Facebook page to draft, post and share manystories with false and groundless contents that distorted, criticised anddefamed the guidelines and policies of the Communist Party of Vietnam and lawof the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, falsified Vietnam’srevolutionary history, and split the national unity bloc.

Those stories stirred up public worries andaffected people’s trust in the Party’s leadership and the State’s governanceand management of society, and incited people to resist the State, thus harmingnational security and social order and safety.

From 2013 to 2016, Quynh also gave manyinterviews to foreign press and media outlets, in which she distorted thedomestic situation in terms of history, economy, politics, defence, diplomacy,law, democracy, and human rights, the indictment said.

In 2014, she created and posted a file ofdocuments named “Stop police killing civilians” with hostile stance andviewpoints against the People’s Public Security force.

Quynh, for many times, organised or took part inactivities and events which aimed to incite people to oppose the State. Shealso kept at her house some publications with content distorting the socialistregime ad inciting people to sabotage the great national unity bloc, accordingto the indictment.

At the appeal trial, Quynh admitted all theviolations but she said the actions did not mean to oppose the State.

The lawyers at the trial also focused on thispoint to defend Quynh.

However, the Council of Judges said basing onthe defendant’s statements and confessions during the investigation, evidenceand documents of the case, arguments at the trial, along with opinions ofprocurators, the defendant, and the lawyers, it concluded that the verdictissued at the first instance trial is not wrong.

Therefore, under Clause 1 of Article 88 of thePenal Code, the court upheld the 10-year jail sentence for Quynh for conductingpropaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.-VNA