Former official sentenced for abuse of right to freedom
The People’s Court of Hanoi on July 26 sentenced Nguyen Son Lo, former director of the SENA Institute of Technology Research and Development, to a total of five years in prison for “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to violate interests of the State, legitimate rights and interests of organisations and individuals”.
Nguyen Son Lo, former director of the SENA Institute of Technology Research and Development sentenced for abuse of right to freedom. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) –The People’s Court of Hanoi on July 26 sentenced NguyenSon Lo, former director of the SENA Institute of Technology Research andDevelopment, to a total of five years in prison for “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to violate interests of the State, legitimate rights and interests of organisations and individuals”.
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According to the indictment, as the director of the institute, Lo has compiled,edited and distributed documents to many other individuals and organisations. The Judicial Assessment Council of the Ministry ofInformation and Communications determined that six documents hold contents that infringed upon the interests of the State; legitimate rights and interestsof organisations and individuals. The jury determined that this is a dangerousact for the society, causing adverse effects on security, order and social safety. In addition, from November 2020 to July 2022, thedefendant also illegally leased part of the institute headquarters at 35 DienBien Phu street in Hanoi, earning more than 2.3 billion VND (97,000 USD) illegally. Thiswas contrary to the institute's operating charter and the Law on management anduse of public property. The jury assessed that the defendant's act ofillegally leasing the office had violated the state administrative managementorder on housing and land, and caused loss of money of the State./.
As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country with diverse religious and belief life, the Vietnamese State consistently implements a policy of respecting and guaranteeing a citizen's right to freedom of religion and belief, and the right to follow or not follow any religion; ensuring equality and non-discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief; and protecting activities of religious organisations by law, stated the Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang on May 18.
In their recently released international religious freedom reports, the US Department of State and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), on one hand recognised Vietnam’s certain progress in promoting religious freedom and citing some official information from Government agencies of Vietnam but on the other still includes inobjective assessments based on unverified and inaccurate information about the reality in Vietnam.
The Party and State of Vietnam always affirm that belief and religion are the spiritual needs of the people, which have been and will be coexisting with the nation, and followers of all religions are part of the great national unity bloc.
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The VNA delegation, led by General Director Vu Viet Trang, actively participated in the event, engaging in both professional and diplomatic activities.
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During his stay in China’s Guangzhou city from 1924 to 1927 to prepare for the establishment of a Communist Party to lead Vietnam’s revolution, President Ho Chi Minh founded “Thanh nien” newspaper and released its first issue on June 21, 1925.
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The strategic product, managed and operated by the Vietnam News Agency Digital Media Centre (VNA Media), is an official channel for popularising the Party and State’s information and documents as well as delivering mainstream and trustworthy news to both domestic and international audiences through various kinds of multimedia formats.
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Nguyen Son Lo, former director of the SENA Institute of Technology Research and Development sentenced for abuse of right to freedom. (Photo: VNA) 
