A Vietnamese reporter has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison by a court in Ho Chi Minh City for “abusing democratic freedoms” through social media posts, a local newspaper reported Tuesday. Nguyen Hoai Nam had pleaded not guilty and demanded further investigation into his case. Nam, 49, wrote several articles about wrongdoing by employees of the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration and provided evidence to authorities during his tenure as a reporter for the Ho Chi Minh City Law newspaper in 2018. His evidence aided the prosecution of three officials, but Nam claimed that 12 others identified as being involved in bribery went unpunished, Vietnam-based news agency VN Express reported. He posted his articles on Facebook and criticized authorities’ handling of the case, accusing them of “letting the criminals off the hook.” Authorities detained Nam on April 3 on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of …