~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2002]

Vietnam jails coffee shop owner over steamy videos

HANOI - A court in southern Vietnam has jailed a Vietnamese woman for showing pornographic videos to customers in her coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City, official media reported on Thursday. Nguyen Thi Buc, 44, was handed down a four year jail sentence by the Ho Chi Minh City court after she was found guilty of showing sex movies in her shop between June and August last year, the Nguoi Lao Dong (Labourer) newspaper said.

The court also gave a three-year jail term to two other men, one in charge of guarding the shop's parking and looking out for police, and the other who controlled the video player. The paper did not say when the verdict was announced nor how much Buc charged her customers for a cup of coffee. It said that Buc only showed tapes with sexual content when there were about 40 customers, while a more routine programme consisted of soap operas and violent movies.

Police seized from her 35 videotapes with sexual content, the newspaper said. Communist Vietnam does not allow the use and distribution of books and videos with sexual or very violent content, considering the stuff a corrupting Western influence and a threat to society.

Reuters - January 17, 2002.