(Reuters) – A court in Vietnam on Thursday sentenced a former journalist to 30 months in prison after finding him guilty of “abusing democratic freedoms” for posts on social media, state media reported.
Truong Huy San, 63, whose pen name is Huy Duc, was convicted for posting 13 articles on Facebook which caused “a negative impact on social order and safety”, state-run Vietnam News Agency said in a report.
The report said San pleaded guilty at the trial. Reuters could not immediately reach his lawyers for comment.
Despite sweeping economic reforms and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and tolerates little criticism.
San, who was arrested in June last year, is a former soldier and the author of “The Winning Side,” a book about postwar Vietnam which is banned in the country.Before the trial, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and PEN America had all called on the government to release San.
“When an author and journalist like Truong Huy San is silenced, it’s not just his voice that is stifled. It’s the right of an entire society to seek truth and accountability,” PEN America research and advocacy manager Anh-Thu Vo said in a statement two weeks ago.
(Editing by John Mair)
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