A Vietnamese court sentenced an aquaculture farmer to seven years in prison on Monday after finding him guilty of distributing ‘anti-state propaganda’ on Facebook.
At a one-day trial in the central province of Khanh Hoa, Nguyen Tri Gioan, who is 42 years old, was found guilty of ‘creating, storing, transmitting information, materials and things with an aim of undermining the state,’ the Vietnam News Agency reported.
Despite widespread economic transformation and a growing willingness to embrace social change, Vietnam maintains a strict media censorship and tolerates minimal dissent.
According to the accusation, Gioan was accused of using his Facebook profiles to ‘distort, slander, and discredit’ the leadership of the Vietnam Communist party, the state and the leader Ho Chi Minh.