Police on February 9 announced they would start an investigation into Nguoi Cao Tuoi (The Elderly) newspaper after the Information of Communications Ministry announced it had violated the Press Law and other legal regulations.

On the day, the Ministry of Public Security’s investigative unit prosecuted the case on the grounds that the newspaper infringed on the country’s benefit and the legal rights and legitimate interests of organisations and individuals as stated in article 258 of the Penal Code.

Earlier, the Information and Communications Ministry announced the withdrawal of the newspaper’s licence and its editor-in-chief’s press card following its inspection.

The ministry also recommended that the Viet Nam Association of the Elderly should dismiss Kim Quoc Hoa, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper.

The newspaper had published a number of complaints and comments that had no legal foundation, the report said.

It had allegedly published several articles that distorted the truth, aimed at insulting and making false accusations against some organisations and individuals.

The online newspaper also reportedly published some articles that revealed confidential information related to national security and abused democratic rights to undermine the nation's legal benefits.

Regarding copyright regulations, the newspaper published a number of articles in the ‘world' section without crediting the original sources, the report said.

The newspaper is also said to have published inappropriate advertisements by using the names of doctors for advertising medicines or functional food.

The ministry added that during the inspection of the newspaper, it continued to receive several complaints about the content published on the newspaper's website.

The ministry had transferred all concerned documents to the investigative unit of the public security ministry for further investigation.-VNA