Blogger Ba Sàm receives a 5-year prison sentence.

On September 22, the Hanoi High Court opened a criminal appeals trial in the case of abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and citizens, against defendants Nguyen Huu Vinh (blogger Ba Sam) and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy.

Previously, on March 23, the Hanoi City People's Court held the first-instance trial of this case. Many domestic and foreign reporters followed and reported on the trial. Six lawyers participated in defending the defendants at the appellate trial.

The defendant, Nguyen Huu Vinh (60 years old, registered permanent residence in Trung Tu Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi), currently residing in Ciputra Urban Area, Xuan La Ward, Tay Ho District, Hanoi. Defendant Vinh was formerly the Director of V Investigation and Protection Company Limited.

The accomplice of defendant Vinh is defendant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy (36 years old, residing in Thanh Cong Apartment Complex, Thanh Cong Ward, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi). Defendant Thuy was formerly an accountant for defendant Vinh at V Investigation and Protection Company Limited.

Defendants Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy during the appeal trial.

According to the indictment of the Hanoi People's Procuracy and the first-instance judgment of the Hanoi People's Court, in 2000, Mr. Vinh registered and became the Director of V Investigation and Protection Company Limited.

In September 2013, Mr. Vinh created, managed, and used two blogs, "Civil Rights" and "Vietnamese History Chronicle". Mr. Vinh shared some administrative rights of these blogs with Ms. Thuy, such as the right to write, edit, delete, and publish articles, and to moderate comments.

Mr. Vinh also instructed several people to gather articles from newspapers, copy them, cut and edit them, and send them to Mr. Vinh and Ms. Thuy via email...

The investigative agency of the Ministry of Public Security determined that Mr. Vinh and Ms. Thuy used the two blogs to post more than 2,000 articles, many of which contained content opposing the Party and the State.

The Ministry of Information and Communications has concluded its assessment that: “24 articles contain false and unfounded information, distorting the Party's guidelines and policies, and the State's laws; slandering individuals, affecting the reputation of agencies and organizations; causing confusion and anxiety, and affecting the trust of the people in the leadership of the Party, Government, National Assembly, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” such as: “Democracy cannot be a ‘pipe dream’”, “Some thoughts on the current situation and tasks”, “A letter from the national uprising forces”, “Irresponsible and shameless”…

The investigation determined that from its creation until Mr. Vinh and Ms. Thuy's arrest, the "Dan Quyen" blog had published 2,014 articles, received 38,567 comments, and had 3,243,330 visits; the "Chep Su Viet" blog had published 383 articles, received 3,401 comments, and had 480,353 visits, of which 24 articles contained false and unfounded information.

The two blogs, "Civil Rights" and "Historian," have had over 3.7 million visits, with many people responding negatively and being swayed by the viewpoints of the published articles.

At the first-instance trial, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced defendant Nguyen Huu Vinh to 5 years in prison and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy to 3 years in prison for abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and citizens, under Article 258 of the Penal Code. Following the first-instance trial, both defendants appealed, claiming innocence and requesting release.

During the trial, six lawyers successively argued in defense of the defendants and requested a review of the search and examination procedures for the articles. The representative of the Procuratorate affirmed that the search of the defendants' residences was conducted in accordance with legal procedures; the examination of the articles by the Ministry of Information and Communications was also within its authority and in accordance with regulations…

The appellate court found that the first-instance judgment was well-founded, and that defendants Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy had abused democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and citizens, with defendant Nguyen Huu Vinh being the mastermind.

The appellate court rejected the appeal claiming innocence, deciding to uphold the first-instance criminal judgment, sentencing defendant Nguyen Huu Vinh to 5 years in prison and defendant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy to 3 years in prison, with the prison terms determined from May 5, 2014.

According to the People's Police Newspaper