Perhaps everyone's assumption about bitcoin is different and sometimes bad assumption is more dominant among the public who do not know about bitcoin completely. But bout punishment 6 months for just using bitcoin is very arbitrary rules because not everyone using bitcoin for illegal things.
Six months of imprisonment just by using bitcoin? What country is that? How did they trace someone who uses bitcoin? Anyways, different countries different rules. Like what you said, it is about perception or assumption on what bitcoin is. Maybe they are using it for gambling that is why they were punished.