The People’s Court of northern Thai Binh province sentenced Nguyen Van Tuc to 13 years in jail for “attempting to overthrow the people’s administration” under Clause 1, Article 79 of the 1999 Penal Code at the first-instance trial on April 10.

Nguyen Van Tuc is sentenced to 13 years in jail for “attempting to overthrow the people’s administration” at the first-instance trial on April 10.

The 54-year-old man, a resident in Thai Binh’s Dong Hung district, will also be under probation for five years after he completes the prison term.

According to the indictment by the provincial People’s Procuracy, Nguyen Van Tuc has been recruited by foreign and domestic reactionary elements to join several organisations, for example, “Dang Dan Chu 21” (democratic party 21), “Hoi Dan Oan” (association for victims of injustice), “Nhom dan chu” (democratic group), and “Khoi 8406” (Bloc 8406) since 2006. Tuc also received financial support and spiritual encouragement to become a “leader” responsible for recruiting members.

In December 2007, Tuc participated in demonstrations in Hanoi, then wrote and published stories containing wrong information on the Internet. In 2008, he and some others distributed anti-State propaganda leaflets in Hai Phong and Hai Duong.

Tuc was taken into custody by the police on September 10, 2008 and prosecuted on the charge of “conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”. Later, the Supreme People’s Court in Hanoi sentenced Tuc to four years in prison and another 3 years under probation.

After four years in prison, he returned to his hometown in Dong La commune, Dong Hung district, Thai Binh to serve the 3-year probation in 2012. However, he did not abide by the sentence and continued his anti-government activities by joining Viet Tan, a terrorist organisation, assuming the role as a member of the anti-corruption advisory committee.

In February 2014, Tuc took part in the “Hoi anh em dan chu” (Brotherhood for Democracy) which was a reactionary organisation involving in illegal activities aiming to eliminate the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and overthrow the people’s administration. In this organisation, Tuc used to serve as deputy chief of the representative committee in northern Vietnam and first vice president.

At the April 10 trial, the court said Tuc’s acts directly threatened national security.-VNA