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 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”.
The institute is responsible for researching, developing and implementing programmes and projects in the fields of economics, science and technology, education and training, environment, research, and proposing management measures and development policies in the economic fields.
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 of Information and Communications determined that six documents hold contents that infringed upon the interests of the State; legitimate rights and interests of organisations and individuals.
The jury determined that this is a dangerous act for the society, causing adverse effects on security, order and social safety.
In addition, from November 2020 to July 2022, the defendant also illegally leased part of the institute headquarters at 35 Dien Bien Phu street in Hanoi, earning more than 2.3 billion VND (97,000 USD) illegally. This was contrary to the institute's operating charter and the Law on management and use of public property.
The jury assessed that the defendant's act of illegally leasing the office had violated the state administrative management order on housing and land, and caused loss of money of the State./.
