Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, alias "Mother Mushroom' criticised government over human rights and civilian deaths in police custody. A prominent Vietnamese blogger has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of distorting government policies and defaming the communist regime in Facebook posts and in interviews with foreign media, her lawyer said. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, also known as "Mother Mushroom", was sentenced at the end of a one-day trial in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, her lawyer, Vo An Don, said. The conviction related to the content of 18 articles on her Facebook page and interviews with foreign news outlets such as Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, Don said. Quynh, 37, co-founded a network of bloggers and is very popular in Vietnam. She has written about human rights, civilian deaths in police custody, and the release of toxic chemicals by a Taiwanese-owned factory that killed thousands of fish in one of Vietnam's worst environmental disasters. Quynh, the single mother of two young children, maintained her innocence throughout the trial, her lawyer said. "Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh did not admit that she committed any crime, saying she has a right to freedom of expression," Don said. Don said the sentence was "too harsh and unjust" and that Quynh plans to appeal against the verdict. Quynh's sentencing drew a stern rebuke from the United States, which said it was "deeply concerned" about her conviction and those of other peaceful protesters over the past year. "The United States calls on Vietnam to release Mother Mushroom and all other prisoners of conscience immediately, and to allow all individuals in Vietnam to express their views freely and assemble peacefully without fear of retribution," said Heather Nauert, spokeswoman for the Department of State. Quynh was arrested in October during a visit to a fellow activist in prison. International human rights groups including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Sweden-based Civil Rights Defenders have called for her immediate release. "The scandal here is not what Mother Mushroom said, but Hanoi's stubborn refusal to repeal draconian, rights-abusing laws that punish peaceful dissent and tarnish Vietnam's international reputation," said Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch's deputy Asia director. In a joint statement, Amnesty International and Civil Rights Defenders urged Vietnam "to refrain from criminalising and prosecuting people for peacefully expressing the right to freedom of expression and to respect and protect the right to a fair trial". Responding to the calls for the blogger's release, foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said Quynh's trial was held in accordance with Vietnamese law. "Like other countries in the world, in Vietnam, all law-violating acts must be strictly dealt with in accordance with the regulations of Vietnamese law," Hang said at a regular news briefing. In March, Quynh received the International Women of Courage Award at the US State Department, presented by the first lady, Melania Trump. Vietnam said the award "was not appropriate and of no benefit to the development of the relations between the two countries". In 2015, Quynh was given the Defender of the Year award by the Swedish rights group Civil Rights Defenders. According to Human Rights Watch, there are about 110 known political prisoners in Vietnam. Vietnam denies that it holds any political prisoners, saying only those who break the law are put behind bars. Update: Prominent blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, left, stood trial on charges of propagandizing against the state. Quynh maintains her innocence and her lawyer said her reporting did not constitute a crime. (Vietnam News Agency/AP) Bangkok, November 30, 2017-The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned a Vietnamese appeals court's decision today to uphold a 10-year prison sentence against blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, widely known as "Me Nam" or "Mother Mushroom." During a one-day trial in June, a Vietnamese court convicted Quynh of "propagandizing" against the state, an anti-state provision under article 88 of the penal code that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, CPJ documented at the time. The charges stemmed from 18 articles posted on Quynh's Facebook page, including her reporting on an industrial toxic spill that devastated large swathes of the country's central coast, reports said. Quynh, who writes her own blog and for platforms run by Vietnamese abroad, reports widely on human rights issues, with an emphasis on the country's high number of deaths in police custody, CPJ research shows. After today's hearing, the blogger's lawyer, Nguyen Ha Luan, said that Quynh maintained her innocence and her reporting did not constitute a crime, The Associated Press reported. "We strongly condemn today's ruling to uphold the 10-year prison sentence given to blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh for doing her job as a reporter," said CPJ Senior Southeast Asia Representative Shawn Crispin. "Critical reporting on poor governance, official abuses, and environmental disasters should not be considered a crime in Vietnam. Quynh should be released without delay." Vietnamese authorities first detained Quynh in October 2016 and then held her in pre-trial detention. Quynh's mother, Nguyen Tuyet Lan, told Reuters that she was outside the court protesting the verdict when police approached her and beat her repeatedly. According to the Reuters report, police also detained three activists who were protesting alongside Lan. In the lead-up to today's hearing, Vietnam's Bar Federation disbarred one of Quynh's defense lawyers, Vo An Don, for providing false information to foreign media, abusing his right to free speech by spreading propaganda, and distorting the truth, according to international media reports that cited the state-run Thanh Nien newspaper. Update: A Vietnamese court on Thursday (Nov 30) rejected the appeal of prominent blogger known as "Mother Mushroom" who is serving a 10-year sentence for anti-state propaganda, days after one of her lawyers was disbarred in a case that has drawn global ire. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was sentenced to a decade in jail in June, a heavy term decried by rights groups that accuse the government of waging a harsh crackdown against critics this year. Her appeal was denied by a court in the southern city of Nha Trang, her lawyer Ha Huy Son said, at a heavily-guarded trial closed to foreign media. "The sentence is very unfair and biased. They argued that Quynh confessed her wrongdoings, but I think it's groundless and not in accordance with the law," Son told AFP after the half-day trial. Quynh, 38, whose pen name "Me Nam" derives from her daughter's nickname "mushroom", was jailed in October 2016 as she was visiting a fellow activist in prison. She was convicted for anti-state propaganda, which carries a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison. Quynh wrote posts critical of the government on the environment, politics and deaths in police custody - a sensitive topic in the one-party state where independent media is banned. In court Thursday, 'Me Nam' defended her legal right to free expression and said she did not break the law, Son said. A few days before her appeal, Vo An Don, one of her lawyers, was disbarred in a move he said was politically motivated. "The main reason was that I had participated in defending the rights of several poor people and prisoners of conscience. The authorities might have hated me for that," Don told AFP. The bar association in nearby Phu Yen province accused Don of providing false information to foreign media, abusing his right to free speech by spreading propaganda and distorting the truth, according to the state-run Thanh Nien newspaper. 'WOMAN OF COURAGE' Human Rights Watch said the move to strip the lawyer of his credentials was a sign of escalating tactics by the government. "In high-profile cases, Vietnam has not hesitated to harass defendant's lawyers but this goes a good deal further ... the gloves are coming off in the Vietnam government's war on its dissidents," HRW deputy Asia director Phil Robertson told AFP. The US State Department gave Quynh the International Woman of Courage Award in March, presented to her in absentia by First Lady Melania Trump. Last month, Quynh's daughter wrote an emotional appeal to Trump, asking her to push for the blogger's release. There has been no public reply from the first lady. The court's decision drew criticism from Washington on Thursday, which called the charges against her "vague". "The United States calls on Vietnam to release Ms Quynh and all prisoners of conscience immediately, and to allow all individuals in Vietnam to express their views freely and assemble peacefully without fear of retribution," US Charge d'Affaires to Vietnam Caryn McClelland said in a statement. The European Union and Britain have previously condemned her conviction and called for her release. Vietnam's foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang defended Thursday's ruling, saying the trial "took place openly and in accordance with regulations of Vietnamese laws". The appeal comes ahead of an EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue on Friday in Hanoi, which follows a spate of arrests and heavy sentences for dissidents. More than 15 activists have been arrested since January, according to Amnesty International, and observers say the crackdown is being led by a conservative leadership in charge since last year. This week, 22-year-old blogger Nguyen Van Hoa was sentenced to seven years under the same anti-state propaganda charge for posts about a toxic waste scandal last year, and several activists were temporarily detained earlier this month after meeting with EU officials in Hanoi. \n