3 given prison sentences after pleaing guilty to slander, libel

HCM CITY — The HCM City People’s Court yesterday handed down imprisonment sentences to three defendants for disseminating slanderous and libellous information against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, in accordance with Article 88 of the Criminal Code.
Le Nguyen Sang, 48; Nguyen Bac Truyen, 39; and Huynh Nguyen Dao, 39, are sentenced to five, four and three years in prison, respectively, and then will be put under probation for two years after completing their jail terms.
The court said the defendants, on circulating distorted information on Party and Government policies, had sparked political instability.
The defendants pleaded guilty and showed their repentance, rescinding their statements, which resulted from incitement by hostile forces to violate the law.
According to the prosecutors’ statement, the three defendants became acquainted with Vietnamese-American Do Thanh Cong (aka Do Cong Thanh) in 2004-2005 through an internet club that Thanh had set up. They later joined the so-called "People’s Democratic Party". Under Thanh’s instruction, the trio printed and spread thousands of leaflets with distorted information about the Vietnamese Party and State.