First instance trial of Phan Cong Hai case for anti-state propaganda
(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of April 28, the People's Court of Nghe An province held a first-instance trial of the criminal case against defendant Phan Cong Hai, who was prosecuted for the crime of "Making, storing, disseminating or propagating information, documents, and items aimed at opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam".
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| Panorama of the trial. Photo: NPV |
According to documents and evidence collected by the investigating authorities, although young, Phan Cong Hai (born 1996), residing in Nghi Dien commune (Nghi Loc), has extremist thoughts and often associates with reactionary and opposing elements.
Phan Cong Hai has repeatedly carried out activities that violate national security for a long time and continuously, especially using social networks to propagate against the Party and the State.
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| Phan Cong Hai was arrested while on the run. Photo: Archive |
Phan Cong Hai used Facebook accounts named “Hung Manh”, “Ugly Vietnamese”, “David Nguyen”... to post many articles and images with content distorting the nature of the Party, the State, and people working in State agencies; inciting thoughts and actions of opposition, hatred, and resentment against the government, insulting Party and State leaders, causing confusion among the people.
In addition, Phan Cong Hai's Facebook also posted videos about his personal activities but included songs that distorted historical facts and the country's domestic and foreign policies.
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| Phan Cong Hai at the trial. Photo: NPV |
On January 10, 2019, the Investigation Security Agency, Nghe An Provincial Police coordinated with the People's Procuracy of Nghe An Province to collect videos, images, and articles with anti-Party and anti-State content from Phan Cong Hai's personal Facebook pages including "David Nguyen", "Ugly Vietnamese" and "Hung Manh" to decide to request an appraisal at the Department of Information and Communications of Nghe An Province.
On January 27, 2019, the collective appraisal council of the Department of Information and Communications of Nghe An province concluded that the articles, images, and videos sent for appraisal all contained distorted and defamatory content about the people's government; fabricated information, and caused confusion among the people. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly handle Phan Cong Hai before the law to prevent the subject's activities that violate national security; at the same time, it is a lesson to warn and deter other subjects.
On April 22, 2019, the investigation security agency, Nghe An Provincial Police issued a decision to prosecute the case, prosecute the accused and issue an order to temporarily detain Phan Cong Hai for the crime of "Making, storing, disseminating or propagating information and documents aimed at opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" as prescribed in Article 117 of the Penal Code.
After a period of hiding, on November 19, 2019, Phan Cong Hai was arrested by Nghe An police.