Fellow reporter Nguyen Van Hai, 33, was sentenced on the charges to two years of "re-education without detention," under which his employers or local government officials will supervise education intended to make him a better citizen. Several Christians and rights activists have had similar sentences in the country after being detained during protests or worship services.
The two reporters helped expose a major graft scandal in a transport ministry unit, known as PMU 18, where officials misused development funds meant for roads and bridges and bet much of it on European football.
The scandal led to the resignation in 2006 of then transport minister Dao Dinh Binh and the arrest of his deputy, Nguyen Viet Tien, while eight PMU 18 officials were jailed last year for illegal gambling and corruption.
Also standing trial was police Major General Pham Xuan Quac and investigator Dinh Van Huynh, on charges of "deliberately revealing state secrets," for giving information to the journalists. Quac, 62, who has retired, was given a warning, while Huynh was sentenced to one year in prison
Media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called the trial the state’s "revenge" against two "daring journalists who revealed embarrassing cases and brought greater freedom to the Vietnamese press."
