The court held a trial in Nghe An’s Vinh City at the appeal submitted by Le Dinh Luong, born in 1965 and residing in Hop Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district of the central province of Nghe An.

Luong was arrested in July 2017 on suspicion of conducting activities aiming at overthrowing the State. In the first-instance trial in August, Luong was sentenced to 20 years in prison and five years of probation after completing the prison term. 

Based on investigation results and arguments at the trial, the court concluded that Luong was an active agent of the Viet Tan organisation, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by the Vietnamese government. He operated in Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh to lure Vietnamese citizens to join the organisation through posting and sharing stories advocating Viet Tan and its operation while spreading wrong information about Vietnam’s situation and the Communist Party of Vietnam through social media platforms.

He was found to have conducted many forms of propaganda against the State of Vietnam, and taken advantage of political events and sensitive issues to incite people to protest against the administration.

At the appeal trial, the judges found that there are sufficient grounds to prove that Luong was an active member of Viet Tan, and he had engaged in propaganda activities designed to undermine the national unity bloc, the people’s trust of the Party and the State.

As a result, the court upheld the verdict on Luong.-VNA