VietNamNet Bridge – A high-school teacher and a staff of a state-owned power company in the southern province of An Giang have to pay VND5 million ($250) fine each for commenting on the provincial Chairman “having his nose in the air” on facebook.

On Saturday, the Director of the Department of Information and Communication of An Giang - Mr. Truong Minh Thuan – said the agency had imposed a VND5 million fine on literature teacher Le Thi Thuy Trang of the Long Xuyen High School in Long Xuyen City and Mr. Huynh Nguyen Huy Phuc, a staff of the An Giang Electricity Company, for breaking the rules on information diffusion, specifically using information to insult others.

Ms. Phan Thi Kim Nga, an official from the local Department of Industry and Trade received a warning for involvement in the case but she was not fined.

Previously, after reading news that the Government Inspectorate proposed to reprimand the Chairman of An Giang, Trang posted this on her personal Facebook and commented that the Chair “has his nose in the air”. Some other joined her to make comments about the provincial Chairman on Trang’s Facebook page, including Mr. Phuc and Phuc’s wife – Ms. Nga.

However, Nga was not fined because she used the Facebook account of her husband, Thuan explained.

Phuc, Trang and Nga were also reprimanded by their companies – An Giang Electricity Company, Long Xuyen High School and the Department of Industry and Trade under the Law on Civil Servants and regulations of the Communist Party.

The case triggered controversy in An Giang, some saying sanctions were too stiff.

Thu Ly