Curtailing Free Expression, Opinion and Information Online in Southeast Asia Case of Dao Quang Thuc In October 2017, Dao Quang Thuc, a retired primary school teacher, was arrested in Hòa Bình province under article 79 of the 1999 Penal Code for the alleged offence of “aiming to overthrow the State” after he had made posts and comments on social media platforms, including on Facebook, regarding corruption and environmental issues.327 He was reportedly severely beaten and left without food following his arrest.328 In January 2019, Dao was convicted and sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment and five years of house arrest.329 In June 2019, it was reported he had gone on hunger strike with four other political prisoners in protest against abusive conditions in their prison camp.330 Cases of Le Van Sinh, Nguyen Van Cong Em and Nguyen Quoc Duc Vuong (September 2019) In September 2019, Le Van Sinh, a pro-democracy activist, was sentenced by the People’s Court of Ninh Binh province to five years’ imprisonment under article 331 of the 2015 Penal Code for allegedly “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State”, for disseminating via Facebook 13 articles with content “distorting the policy of the state and party”, alleged defamation of provincial officials and criticizing draft laws pertaining to cybersecurity and special economic zones in Vietnam.331 In September 2019, Nguyen Van Cong Em, a pro-democracy activist, was sentenced by the People’s Court of Ben Tre province to five years’ imprisonment and five years of probation under article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code for allegedly “making, storing or disseminating information 327 Amnesty, ‘Prisoners of Conscience in Vietnam’, case no. 11. 328 Richard Finney, An Nguyen, ‘Retired Vietnamese Teacher Handed 14-Year Prison Term in Subversion Trial’, Radio Free Asia, 19 September 2018, Available at: https://www.rfa.org/english/ news/vietnam/subversion-09192018143141.html 329 Dao Quang Thuc was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment and five years of house arrest at first instance, before the imprisonment term was reduced to 13 years by the judge who heard his appeal. See The 88 Project, ‘Dao Quang Thuc’, Available at: https://the88project.org/profile/7/ dao-quang-thuc/ 330 The 88 Project, ‘Prisoners go on collective hunger strike to protest abusive conditions in prison camp No. 6 Nghe An’, 27 June 2019, Available at: https://the88project.org/prisonersgo-on-collective-hunger-strike-to-protest-abusive-conditions-in-prison-camp-no-6-nghean/?fbclid=IwAR2e4T_CNeH1IbuVmIv8IZ1Erc6pji4IVs7QGtF8T77UpI0HFJnm99StL_8 331 The 88 Project, ‘Criticizing Government Corruption on Facebook, Activist Le Van Sinh Sentenced to Five Years for “Abusing Democratic Freedoms”’, 18 September 2019, Available at: https:// the88project.org/criticizing-government-corruption-on-facebook-activist-le-van-sinh-sentenced-tofive-years-for-abusing-democratic-freedoms/ 91