Vietnamese journalist sent to jail for reporting corruption

The Associated Press , Hanoi | Wed, 10/15/2008 1:04 PM | World

A Vietnamese journalist was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for writing inaccurate stories about one of the country's most high-profile corruption cases.

Nguyen Viet Chien, 56, was convicted of "abusing freedom and democracy" at the end of a two-day trial at the Hanoi People's Court.

Presiding Judge Tran Van Vy said before announcing the verdict that Chien included fabricated information in his reports and that he "damaged the prestige of some high-ranking officials and caused negative public opinion."

Fellow reporter Nguyen Van Hai, 33, was given two years of reeducation without detention on the same charges.

Hai was given a lesser sentence for his "active cooperation with investigators and remorse," Vy said.

The two reporters worked for two of the country's most popular newspapers.

Also standing trial with the two journalists were police Maj. Gen. Pham Xuan Quac and investigator Dinh Van Huynh who were charged with "deliberately revealing state secrets."

Quac, 62, who has retired, was given a warning while Huynh received one year in prison.

The case involved a major corruption and gambling scandal that erupted in 2005 at a division of the Transportation Ministry.

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