Woman, 60, jailed for overthrow attempt
Long An Province People's Court on Monday sentenced 60-year-old Nguyễn Thị Bách Huệ (originally from the southern city Cần Thơ) to 12 years in prison for the crime of attempting to overthrow the people's administration.
In early 2020, Huệ went to HCM City to meet a woman returning from the United States and she was encouraged to participate in the terrorist organisation “Provisional National Government of Vietnam” established by Đào Minh Quân in the US, with promises of money and housing.
Huệ submitted an application to join this organisation and was instructed to install an application for online meetings, study and read the biography of Quân, listen to ideological instructions, and was assigned to write propaganda articles about the organisation.
Between 2020 and 2021, under foreign direction, Huệ used seven social media accounts and seven Gmail accounts to communicate and exchange with other members of the organisation, engaging in activities such as defamation of the government, insulting leaders and recruiting and mobilising people to overthrow the Vietnamese government through various social media platforms.
Due to her active involvement, Huệ was assigned various aliases, secret codes, and positions ranging from "lieutenant, captain to team leader" by the terrorist organisation, and received around VNĐ10 million (nearly US$400) from them.
In April 2023, Huệ was arrested and detained with numerous documents and evidence of her activities within the organisation.
At the trial, Huệ expressed her remorse and had truthfully confessed, and her family's contributions to the revolution were taken into account, resulting in a partial reduction of the punishment.