Collection of judgments on crime of slander in Vietnam

Hello, Lawnet would like to answer the following:

1. What is slander?

- Slander is understood as the act of using words or actions to affect the honor of an individual or an organization.

- Slander specified in the Penal Code 2015 is the act of fabricating information or spreading false information to harm another person's reputation or infringes upon another person's lawful rights and interests

2. Penalties for slander under the Penal Code

Article 156 of the Penal Code 2015 provides for the crime of slander as follows:

- A person who commits any of the following acts shall be liable for a fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 50,000,000, face a penalty of up to 02 years' community sentence or 03 - 12 months' imprisonment:

+ Fabricating information or spreading false information to harm another person's reputation or infringes upon another person's lawful rights and interests;

+ Accusing a person of a fabricated crime report it to the authorities.

- This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 01 - 03 years' imprisonment:

+ The offence is committed by an organized group;

+ The offence involves abuse of the offender's her position or power;

+ The offence is committed against 02 or more people;

+ The offence is committed against the offender's grandparent, parent or a person who cares for, teaches, raises or provides medical treatment for the offender;

+ The offence is committed against a law enforcement officer in performance of his/her official duties;

+ The offence is committed using a computer network, telecommunications network or electronic device;

+ The victim suffers from 31% - 60% mental and behavioral disability because of the offence; (According to point e, clause 2, point 2 of the Penal Code 2015, as amended in 2017)

+ Accusing another person of a very serious crime or extremely serious crime which is fabricated.

- This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 03 - 07 years' imprisonment:

+ The offence is committed by despicable motives;

+ The victim suffers from ≥ 61% mental and behavioral disability; (According to point e, clause 2, point 2 of the Penal Code 2015, as amended in 2017)

+ The offence results in the suicide of the victim.

- The offender may also be liable to a fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 50,000,000, be prohibited from holding certain positions or doing certain works for 01 - 05 years.

3. Judgements on slander in Vietnam

Here are some judgements on slander in Vietnam

Judgement on slander in Vietnam No. 32/2022/HS-ST

- Level of trial: First instance

- Judicial body: People's Court of Thua Thien Hue province

- Quoting the content: "Mr. D and P have applied to be collaborators of the Vietnam Law Newspaper office. D was recruited into the Office to work, while P was not employed, so he was angry, hated, and found all ways to smear and discredit the Vietnam Law Newspaper. Phan Van P impersonated Mr. Nguyen Quang T (Head of the Representative Office of Vietnam Law Newspaper) to send a letter to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and the Director of the Provincial Public Security of the three provinces of Quang B, Quang T, and Thua Thien H. The envelope contained official documents allegedly issued by the Vietnam Law Newspaper and documents impersonating collaborators Truong Quoc T1, Mr., and has the following content: "We are an elite group of reporters that cover every move, comrades, we all know such as bribing businesses, protecting businesses...." aimed at smearing the reputation of the Representative Office of the Vietnam Law Newspaper in Thua Thien H and of Mr. Nguyen Quang T, Truong Quoc T1, Truong Cong N personally."

Judgement on slander No. 21/2021/HS-ST

- Level of trial: First instance

- Judicial body: People's Court of Trieu Phong district, Quang Tri province

- Quoting the content: "On the afternoon of January 19, 2021, Trinh The C hired to print a photo of Ms. Nguyen Thi L (C and L had a relationship before they broke up) on A4-size paper with the content: "This child is Nguyen Thi L incest with her brother-in-law Le V, who is working at Manh T Company. Every week, Le V (Le V's younger brother) drives up to Q province for about 9 to 10 hours to have sex. Besides, he also has relationships with his ex-lover named V and many others. Particularly, V and V transferred money to L's account, and had many relationships with many people. So I inform anyone who has had sex with this child to get tested for STDs. Phone number: 0943513xxx (Mr. Manh T Company)". C brought printed sheets of paper that were scattered along the route in market area B, province Q, and in front of Ms. L's gate, and returned home to sleep. After that, Ms. L and Mr. V discovered the incident, so they made a report to the police. At the same time, because C saw Mr. V come to work to bring L back many times, C thought that there was a relationship between Mr. V and Ms. L, so he got angry and had the intention to print leaflets with the above content in order to insult honor and reputation, smear Ms. L and Mr. V, and let his wife believe that C broke up with Ms. L. The entire content of the leaflets was fabricated by C, slandering Ms. L and Mr. V, but it was completely untrue. Because leaflet C was distributed in the market area, many people knew that it seriously affected the honor and dignity of Ms. L and Mr. V."

Judgment 981/2020/HS-PT dated December 21, 2020 on slander

- Level of trial: Appellate

- Judicial body: Hanoi People's Court

- Quoting the content: "N.N.H and Ms. N.T.H got married in the middle of 2017 and divorced in 2019. After the divorce, due to some conflicts in the process of living together, N.N.H arose with the intention of setting up a fake Facebook account for Ms. N.T.H for the purpose of posting articles affecting the honor and dignity of Ms. On November 16, 2019, N.N.H used his phone, using the phone number 0929.838.xxx, to set up a Facebook account named "N.T.H". Then H1 used Ms. H's personal information and uploaded some pictures of Ms. H using Facebook named "Huyen Ngo" and then posted it on the Facebook page "N.T.H" to make people believe that Ms. H is a Facebook user "N.T.H". Then H1 found some erotic images of women with similar characteristics to Ms. H on the internet; then he posted on Facebook "N.T.H" with a number of articles with the content showing that Ms. H is a prostitute, receiving overnight guests, including the phone number 0397587xxx.... In February 2020, Ms. N.T.A.D, a friend of Ms. H's, discovered that the Facebook account "N.T.H" contained prostitution content, so she reported it to Ms. H. Ms. H went to see the pictures and posts on the Facebook account "N.T.H" and found it offensive, affecting her honor and dignity, so on February 3, 2020, Ms. N.T.H reported them to the police to conduct an investigation and verification."

Judgement 62/2021/HS-ST dated 12/05/2021 on slander

- Level of trial: First instance

- Judicial body: People's Court of Muong Ang district, Dien Bien province

- Quoting the content: "Due to anger, Mr. Pham Ngoc H is an executor holding the position of Head of the MA District Civil Law Sub-department, who executed the Decision on Coercion of the defendant's parents, Mr. Vu The H and Mrs. Trinh Thi H in MA district. On November 17, 2020, Vu Vuong H sent a denunciation of Mr. Pham Ngoc H of appropriating property to the MA District People's Procuracy and a denunciation to a number of individuals in MA and TG districts; Vu Vuong H accused Mr. H, including 03 main contents: First: Defendant Vu Vuong H accused Mr. Pham Ngoc H of abusing his position and power to intentionally carry out the coercive civil judgment enforcement. The coercive process has stored assets in the wrong place, causing the loss and appropriation of Mr. H's family's assets, including: 02 silver bangles, 02 silver chains, the amount of 750,000,000 VND, 100 gold bars of the 9999 type, and some other properties make the total value 6,371,930,000 VND. Second: Defendant H accused Mr. H of organizing the enforcement of civil judgment enforcement against the land plot and assets on land in MA district, Dien Bien province, of Trinh Thi H's family (his mother H) against the law. Through the process of investigating and verifying all three contents of the above denunciation and denunciation are untrue; The content accusing Mr. H of appropriating the family's property is the content that Vu Vuong H fabricated and slandered Mr. Pham Ngoc H, resolved at conclusion No. 01/KL-CTHADS dated March 31, 2020 of the Director of the Civil Judgment Execution Department of Dien Bien province.

Judgment 23/2020/HS-PT dated 14/02/2020 on slander

- Level of trial: Appellate

- Judicial body: Thai Nguyen Provincial People's Court

- Quoting the content: "Nguyen Thi H, Nguyen Thu H1, and Ms. Nguyen Thanh H2 are three sisters, in the process of living between H, H1, and Ms. H2, a conflict arose. Therefore, H made an application "Application and appeal for help" to the Procurator General of the People's Procuracy and Director of Thai Provincial Police N. Applications submitted by H and H1 have the following contents: Ms. H2 often cursed Ms. Duong Thi V (who is the biological mother of H3, H, H1, and Ms. H2), locked Mrs. V in her house, and did not allow her children, grandchildren, or neighbors to visit and take care of Mrs. V; Ms. H2 is a very heavy drug addict, owes money to many people but cannot pay;... All applications of Nguyen Thi H; The application signed by Nguyen Thi H and Nguyen Thu H1 are transferred by the competent authority to the investigative police agency of Thai N city for settlement in accordance with the law. On January 3, 2017, Ms. Nguyen Thanh H2 filed a denunciation and proposed prosecution against Nguyen Thi H, Nguyen Thi Minh H3, and Nguyen Thu H1 for slandering her. According to the verification results of the agency investigating the contents of Ms. H, H1 is a fabrication and slander of Ms. H2.

Please Login to be able to download