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Image source, TTXVN
The trial trial on the morning of September 7 in Hanoi.
On the morning of September 7, 29 defendants residing in Hoanh village were brought to a public trial in the Hanoi People’s Court for the Dong Tam land dispute case, sparking outrageous public opinion in last time.
Large numbers of people came to the Hanoi People’s Court at 1 Pham Van Bach Street, Yen Hoa Ward, Cau Giay District, to monitor when the trial started on the morning of 7 September. Mobile police are also heavily deployed to protect security.
This is the first instance trial of the “murder” and “executor against public service” cases that occur in Hoanh Village, Dong Tam Commune, My Duc District, Hanoi City. The case involving disputes and tense land complaints occurred over the years, culminating in a morning confrontation on January 9, 2020, in which 3 policemen and Mr. Le Dinh Kinh were killed.
Of the 29 defendants, 25 were prosecuted and brought to trial for acts of “murder” as prescribed in article 123, clause 1, points a, d, n, or of the 2015 Penal Code, which include: Le Dinh Cong, Nguyen Van Tuyen, Le Dinh Chuc, Le Dinh Doanh, Mai Thi Phan, Nguyen Quoc Tien, Bui Viet Hieu, Nguyen Van Quan, Le Dinh Quang, Bui Thi Duc, Nguyen Thi Be, Nguyen Thi Lua, Le Dinh Uy, Tran Thi La, Bui Thi Noi, Nguyen Van Due, Le Dinh Quan, Bui Van Nien, Bui Van Tuan, Trinh Van Hai, Bui Van Tien, Nguyen Xuan Dieu, Dao Thi Kim, Nguyen Van Trung, and Le Thi Loan.
Image source, Took the screen
Mr. Le Dinh Cong appeared to confess on Vietnamese television after the police entered Dong Tam on the morning of January 9. Three policemen and Mr. Le Dinh Kinh, Mr. Cong’s father, were killed in the incident.
The remaining individuals, including Bui Viet Tien, Le Dinh Hien, Nguyen Thi Dung and Tran Thi Phuong, were prosecuted by the Hanoi People’s Prosecutor’s Office for acts “contrary to public duty” pursuant to Article 330, Clause 2, letter a of Penal Code of 2015.
The 5-person trial panel is chaired by Judge Truong Viet Toan, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Court of the Hanoi People’s Court.
The defense includes 15 lawyers invited by the families of the accused and the remaining 18 lawyers appointed by the court to defend the accused on charges of “murder”.
The trial session is scheduled to take place from September 7 to 17.
Public opinion
Regarding the ‘Dong Tam case’ trial, Mr. Phil Robertson, Asia Deputy Director for Human Rights Watch, personally expressed his concern on Facebook:
“There are many concerns about the procedures and the right to a fair trial for the 29 villagers indicted for the Dong Tam incident. Torture and harassment still prevail in public prisons An independent court is distant, and the Party’s sentences Communist are characteristics of the so-called Vietnamese judicial system.The right of the accused to meet with the lawyer is extremely limited and is only done after the police have finished the questioning, bowing and investigation.
There are still many unanswered questions about what happened in the Dong Tam raid, and it will likely never be answered in the context of Hanoi rushing to convict the defendants. It is quite clear that the government wants to punish the accused with very harsh penalties to discourage those who dare to oppose state power in the future.
In the general public interest, Vietnam should allow independent international observers, including diplomats, the press and NGOs, to monitor the trial and end the harassment. and monitoring the families of the accused.
Before that, lawyer Le Van Hoa told BBC News Vietnamese that he is providing legal support to four residents of Dong Tam, including Mr. Le Dinh Cong, Le Dinh Chuc, Le Dinh Uy and Ms. Tran Thi La.
Mr. Hoa assessed that because the nature of this case is particularly important and serious, the security work is even improved and stricter than other cases.
“With the practice that I have experienced, when participating in some sensitive court cases, especially in cases of infringement of national security, the participation of the lawyer in the courtroom is often very restricted.
“For example, it is not allowed to bring telephones, tape recorders, computers to the courtroom. Access to the courtroom is subject to a very strict security control, review of passersby, vehicles and bags., The documents brought”, Mr. Hoa said.
Dong Tam Department: ‘Behavior as in the Middle Ages’
The conflict over land in Dong Tam has erupted in recent years, but it has had a root cause for decades. In 1980, the Prime Minister issued a land grant decision to build the Mieu Mon Airport covering an area of 208 ha, of which 47.36 ha of agricultural land in Dong Tam commune. However, this project was not implemented.
By 2015, after the decision to allocate land to Military Telecom Corporation (Viettel) for military purposes, conflicts have increased.
From the point of view of the local population, a large part of the cultivated land is acquired as agricultural land. Meanwhile, the government’s point of view is expressed in the state media that “there is an invasion of defense lands” in Dong Tam.
During the conflict, the government arrested several people who were fighting in Dong Tam. In response, many residents of Dong Tam Commune arrested 38 people, mainly mobile police, to demand the government’s release on April 15, 2017.
After many stressful days, the hostage arrest ended when Mr. Nguyen Duc Chung, then chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, went to Dong Tam commune to sign a pledge with the people.
The arrest of the hostage ended, but the dispute continued thereafter. At 3:00 am on January 9, 2020, the police raided the village of Hoanh and during the conflict, 3 policemen were killed along with Mr. Le Dinh Kinh.
Police said that a group of people in the village used pig knives and gasoline bombs to attack the functional forces, causing 3 policemen to fall into the well and burn to death. The police also said they “destroyed” Mr. Le Dinh Kinh while “using an iron tube attached to a pig-throwing knife, a grenade to attack the police force.”
Mr. Le Dinh Kinh (center), who fought to keep the land for many years, was killed in the police case in Dong Tam on the morning of 9/1/2020.
Meanwhile, independent government sources claim that the three policemen fell into the death hole during the attack on Hoanh village, not by the people. There were also many reports that the police had killed Mr. Le Dinh Kinh in a situation where he did not have dangerous opposition.
The incident in Dong Tam caused much frustration in the public opinion on how the government behaves. Therefore, the trial that was opened this morning received special attention both at home and abroad. In addition to state newspapers, many independent press organizations also participated in the reports.
