A court in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta on Thursday sentenced a man and his girlfriend to seven and five years in prison, respectively, over activities aimed at overthrowing the government.

The People’s Court in Kien Giang Province handed the sentences to Nguyen Van Nghia, 47, from Ho Chi Minh City, and Duong Thi Be, 40, from Kien Giang, for their participation in activities aimed at overthrowing the Vietnamese government.

The indictment showed that Nghia visited a website in 2014 to learn about the reactionary organization 'Provisional National Government of Vietnam,' led by a man named Dao Minh Quan.

In late 2018, Nghia joined a so-called referendum of the reactionary organization and 'elected' Quan as president of the 'Third Republic of Vietnam' as well as applied to officially join this organization.

Nghia also enticed others to join.

In March 2020, Nghia was appointed to various positions within the organization and was tasked with correcting spelling errors in members' social media posts.

In mid-2021, Nghia was in charge of editing articles that insulted the honor of late President Ho Chi Minh.

In late October 2021, he convinced Be – his girlfriend – to join the organization.

The couple later met some of Nghia’s relatives and introduced to them the organization’s policies and convinced them to partake in the organization, though their membership applications have not yet been approved.

Nghia also used the personal information of six of his family members to participate in the referendum held by the reactionary organization.

Meanwhile, Be asked several officers and people in the armed forces to join this organization.

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