Police officer sentenced to 18 months in prison for removing candidate's name from the list.

Outraged because local officials had promised to repair the road in his residential area but failed to do so, police officer Son Van Dong arbitrarily removed their names from the list of candidates for the People's Council.

The police officer admitted that his actions stemmed from frustration over broken promises by local officials. (Photo: Contributor)

Police officer prosecuted for arbitrarily removing a candidate's name from the list.

On November 23, the People's Court of Kien Hai District (Kien Giang Province) sentenced Son Van Dong (48 years old, former police officer of An Son commune) to 18 months in prison for violating the right to vote and the right to run for office of citizens.

Dong also has to compensate the budget with over 120 million dong, which is the cost of organizing the re-election.

According to the indictment, prior to the elections for National Assembly and People's Council representatives at all levels for the 2016-2021 term in May, officials in An Son commune promised to repair roads and provide clean water to Hamlet 6, Cu Tron village - where Dong resided - but failed to do so.

Out of anger, Dong fraudulently obtained 22 voter ballots from several people to cast his vote, crossing out the name of a candidate who was an official of the commune's People's Committee.

The incident was discovered, and polling station number 2 in An Son commune had to hold a re-election in early June.

According to VNE