HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — An official says a court in central Vietnam has sentenced two Catholics to prison for distributing anti-government documents.

A court official in Nghe An province says Vo Thi Thu Thuy and Nguyen Van Thanh were convicted of spreading anti-government propaganda and sentenced to five and three years respectively at a one-day trial Tuesday.

The official, Pham Van Phuc, said Thursday that Thuy and Thanh were arrested in early 2011 after distributing documents in Nghe An province that defamed the leadership of the ruling Communist Party.

In 2009, Thuy also participated in a rally by Catholics in central Quang Binh province to ask local government to return church land.