An Thi Mai Tram, 61, from Tho Quan ward, Dong Dadistrict, received 42 months in prison and Nguyen Trong Bang, 50, fromDai Kim ward, Hoang Bai district, got 36 months in jail at a trialof the Hanoi People’s Court on June 17, for “abusing the rights to freedom anddemocracy to violate the interests of the State, and the rights and legitimateinterests of organisations and individuals” in line with Article 331, Clause 2of the Penal Code.
According to the indictment, in September 2021 when Hanoiwas imposing social distancing in accordance with the Prime Minister’s DirectiveNo. 16/CT-TTg dated March 31, 2020 on urgent measures against COVID-19, and implementinginstructions of the Government and the municipal People’s Committee on COVID-19vaccination and testing, Tram and Bang distributed leaflets that had distortedcontents about the Party’s guidelines and policies on the pandemic combat, theefficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and the efficiency of the measures.
The pair called on people not to comply with socialdistancing regulations, not to get vaccinated and not to take COVID-19 tests asrequired by the Government and local authorities./.