Court orders woman who 'slandered' Da Phuoc landfill to apologize publicly

The People's Court of Nha Be district, Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday ordered Nguyen Hong Thu, 47, to pay compensation of VND7.56 million ($319) and apologize publicly for posting offensive content about the Da Phuoc landfill management company.

The court heard the first-instance trial and announced that it partially accepted the lawsuit claim of Vietnam Waste Treatment Company Limited (VWS), led by David Duong as legal representative.

The jury ordered Thu to stop insulting the reputation of the company, remove posts containing harmful content, and publicly apologize on her personal Facebook page and Fanpage "The truth about the stench in Phu My Hung".

According to the jury, Thu's posts were negative, affecting David Duong, but he refused to participate in the proceedings, so the company's request was appropriate.

"Whether the stench comes from the Da Phuoc landfill or not, it should be dealt with by state agencies. Thu could have petitioned authorities to handle it, but she used social networks to post inappropriate articles, insulting the honor, reputation and dignity of the plaintiff," the judgment stated.

According to the lawsuit, in 2016, Thu used her personal Facebook to create a group called "The truth about the stench in Phu My Hung" to post content saying that the stench in this busy residential area was caused by VWS. However, the plaintiff said that the contents and articles that Thu posted were misleading and untrue, and used words that defamed the dignity, honor and reputation of David Duong and the company.

At the time of the lawsuit, the plaintiff asked for compensation of VND500 million ($21,120) but later withdrew this claim, lowering it to only VND35.9 million ($1,516) to cover the cost of collecting evidence.