(CNN) A Vietnamese environmental activist and blogger has been sentenced to six years in prison under the country's new law that cracks down on online dissent.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh, a 39-year old shrimp farmer from the southern town of Binh Dai, was arrested and tried for what state media described as "making, storing, releasing, and circulating information and documents against the state."

He was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday by the People's Court of Ben Tre province, followed by five years under house arrest, according to the state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

The European Commission called the sentence a "direct breach" of international human rights agreements.

Vietnam's government has not responded to CNN's request for comment. The Southeast Asian country has been intensifying its efforts to stifle online speech.

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