Pham Chi Thanh, residing in Dong Tam ward of HaiBa Trung district, was found guilty of “creating, storing, distributing, orspreading information, documents against the State of the Socialist Republic ofVietnam” under Clause 1 of Article 17 in the 2015 Penal Code.
The indictment by the Hanoi People’s Procuracysaid that in around February 2012, Thanh started a blog named “Ba Dam Xoe” topost his writings. In mid-2014, he opened a Facebook page named “Pham Thanh”and continued posting many articles on different websites.
In July 2019, he gathered the writings earlierposted on the internet in a book and then distributed it.
The 21 articles in this book contained fabricatedinformation distorting and defaming the people’s administration.
Thanh also repeatedly gave interviews about hisbook’s distribution to foreign media outlets and some individuals in thecountry. Those interviews were posted on the internet and Facebook.
He distributed more than 220 copies of the book,including 194 delivered to others in Vietnam and abroad via the post. He alsosold and presented some to other individuals.
From September 13, 2019 to May 21, 2020, Thanhgained more than 80 million VND (nearly 3,500 USD at the current exchange rate)from the book’s distribution, with most of the money transferred to his bankaccount. After deducting costs, he earned over 18 million VND, according to theindictment./.