A court in south-central Vietnam has sentenced a local man to nine months in prison for his non-compliance with COVID-19 prevention regulations and insulting law enforcement officers, just four days after his offence.

The People’s Court of Tay Hoa District, Phu Yen Province, on Thursday gave the nine-month jail term to Phan Van Thong, 51, for his resisting on-duty law enforcement officers, under Vietnam’s Penal Code.

Earlier on August 9 morning, an inspection team of the district’s Hoa Dong Commune caught Thong and his wife violating the COVID-19 social distancing rules under the Prime Minister’s Directive 16 by selling meat and vegetables at home.

The team asked them to stop their business, but they did not follow, claiming that the team was causing difficulty to their family.

Thong even cursed and insulted the team’s members with vulgar words, chased the law enforcement officers out of his house yard, and prevented them from making a report on his violation.

Despite the fact that Dinh Ngoc Sum, the team’s head and the deputy chairman of the commune, remained in the yard, Thong then locked the house gate.

Thong insisted not to open the gate despite requests from the other members of the team.

Police were called to the scene and they forced Thong to open the gate and detained him.

At court, Thong admitted his crime and showed a repentant attitude.

Considering Thong committed the offence for the first time, the court decided to award him nine months imprisonment.

It was thanks to the shortening of court proceedings by local law agencies that the case was brought to trial only four days after Thong’s offence.

Two similar cases occurred in the province in late July with three men sentenced on the same charge as Thong.

In one case, 28-year-old Tran Minh Luan got 12 months in prison, while Pham Van Hieu, 34, and Nguyen Tan Thach, 29, received a nine-month jail term each in the other.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!