The Supreme People’s Court Chamber in the central city of Da Nang upheld the original sentence given to a man accused of “conducting activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration” at an appeal court on December 23.

Ngo Hao, a resident of Tuy Hoa city, capital of the central province of Phu Yen, will have to spend 15 years in prison.

At the hearing, which was held upon Hao’s appeal against the court’s initial decision, the jury said the first verdict had considered all the evidence and circumstances.

It refused Hao’s appeal as no new evidence or circumstances were found.

According to the indictment, between 2008 and December 2012, Hao wrote many articles and distributed various documents, all of which contained distorted information about the system and defamed leaders.

Hao received money from the “Exiled Government of the Republic of Vietnam” many times and also asked the organisation to send money to those involved in activities organised by him.

The provincial police found out about Hao’s acts and brought legal proceedings against him on February 7, 2013. The provincial People’s Procuracy in August prosecuted Hao for implementing activities to overthrow the people’s administration under Clause 1, Article 79 of the Criminal Code.-VNA