The conviction is the newest in what rights teams say is the federal government’s wide-ranging try to silence voices crucial of the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party.
A video of Bui Tuan Lam, 39, went viral in November 2021 when it was posted days after a high Vietnamese official was caught on digital camera consuming gold-encrusted steak on the London restaurant of the Turkish chef whose actual identify is Nusret Gökçe.
Lam, who described himself in a Facebook submit uploaded alongside the video as “Green Onion Bae,” was arrested late final 12 months. On Thursday he was convicted of “making, storing, distributing, or disseminating information, documents, and items against the state,” the Danang police division stated after a one-day trial.
Alongside working a beef noodle stall within the metropolis, Lam had publicly advocated for democracy in Vietnam and took part in lots of anti-China and pro-environment protests.
The Danang police division additionally cited Lam’s indictment as saying he had posted 19 articles and 25 movies on social media to “distort and smear the state.”
Lam’s lawyer couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, known as on the Vietnamese authorities to cease prosecuting Lam and others for criticising the Vietnamese Communist Party.
“The list of posts and videos listed as ‘evidence’ of Bui Tuan Lam’s ‘crimes’ shows the extreme lengths to which the Vietnamese go to block any sort of online criticism of the government,” Robertson stated.
“For the Vietnamese leadership, even songs are a threat to their monopoly of power,” he added.
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Source: www.9news.com.au
