A noodle vendor in Vietnam famous for imitating celebrity chef "Salt Bae" to allegedly mock a top government official was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on Thursday, police said, after a court found him guilty of anti-state propaganda.
The conviction is the latest in what rights groups say is the government's wide-ranging attempt to silence voices critical of the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party.
A video of Bui Tuan Lam, 39, went viral in November 2021 when it was posted days after a top Vietnamese official was caught on camera eating gold-encrusted steak at the London restaurant of the Turkish chef whose real name is Nusret Gökçe.