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Image source, Ngo Ngoc Trai
The first instance trial with two death sentences and one life sentence, and many other severe sentences declared by the Court and the Vietnamese government to the defendants in the case of violence in Dong Tam is a ‘message but at the same Time is also a “regrettable milestone” for the government, according to the online political magazine The Diplomat, specializing in Asia-Pacific politics, on September 15, 2020.
On Tuesday, The Diplomat article titled “Vietnam Land Dispute Trial Ends with Guilty Convictions” commented:
“After the first signs of leniency, the Vietnamese authorities used Dong Tam’s trial to send a strong message.
“The protracted dispute over Dong Tam’s land in Vietnam has come to an end when a court found that 29 villagers committed crimes against the state government after a deadly clash with the police in January. On September 14, the judges of the In the capital of Hanoi, brothers Le Dinh Chuc and Le Dinh Cong were sentenced to death, accused of murder for the deaths of three policemen in the case.27 Another received a prison sentence of 15 months to life in prison.
“The ruling marks an unfortunate milestone in the area of Dong Tam, a town south of Hanoi where locals have spent the past three years fighting the government’s attempt to build an airport on land adjacent to the village. The community claims that about 47 hectares of their land has been unfairly appropriated on behalf of Viettel Group, Vietnam’s military communications company. “
Is ‘the peak of 40 years a problem’?
The author’s article, the Southeast Asian editor of The Diplomat, also quoted political researcher Carl Thayer of the University of New South Wales, Australia, as saying:
“The Dong Tam case highlights the growing tensions surrounding the land issue in Vietnam. Carl Thayer of the University of New South Wales described the Dong Tam raid and the outcome of the trial as” culminating “over 40 years. the problem of “land distribution.” In particular, most of the problem stems from the lack of public and private interests in Vietnam’s hybrid system of “market socialism.”
The article also quotes a former US diplomat and a Vietnamese observer, David Brown, as saying that “this cruel response to the fighting in Dong Tam was an attempt to clean up. Clean up the mess from the massive and disproportionate operation of January 2020.
On September 17, 2020, from Hanoi, when asked what message the first instance case sent through the Dong Tam case, a news and political observer in Hanoi, Dr. Mai Thanh Son, from the Academy of Sciences Vietnam Socialists, told the BBC:
“The Dong Tam case, in my opinion, is a bloody message that the Vietnamese authorities want to send to those seeking a change of opinion on land ownership.
“Thu Thiem’s case pushed some 20,000 people into misery, but the criminals only dealt with scratching the scabies. Meanwhile, just for 59 hectares of Senh land, people can borrow as an excuse. Network some people.
“Through the Dong Tam case, I believe that the government led by the Communist Party of Vietnam wants to send out many warnings, or perhaps multiple warnings, that there will be no changes in land policy in the near future; accept the voice of criticism and be willing to compromise. “
Image source, Ngo Ngoc Trai
Ms. Du Thi Thanh, the wife of Mr. Le Dinh Kinh, said that she was not allowed to attend the first instance trial in Hanoi.
What is the nature of the problem?
When asked to comment on the nature of the Dong Tam case and the results of the trial in the first instance, Dr. Mai Thanh Son added:
“In my opinion, the reaction to the Dong Tam case is really hot. I have also read comments on the BBC, including comments from some economists, psychologists, sociologists. Or political science, but having gained more knowledge, you also need a holistic view.
“I think it is necessary to put disputes, cases, cases on a series of issues related to land.
“We must remember that the slogan ‘plow the field’ was supposed to be a very clear and populist form of communist governments or leftist dictatorship of the world long ago.
“This slogan was carried out in Vietnam until the year 1956-1957 is the end. Then the movement, the cooperative model and the universal land ownership regime were introduced and promulgated. it is from here that people do not have private property rights over the land.
“The conflict over land in Vietnam, according to our observations, began to worsen since 1988, when the state first announced the Land Law – action by all levels of government.
“You see companies openly shaking the hand of the State under the institution, the supposed totalitarian regime carries out the manipulation of the land and people are forced into an indispensable position.
“By reviewing the whole issue on the time axis, that is, the calendar, public opinion, and circles, it will become clear that Dong Tam is just the end of a series of events.
“And one more thing I would like to add is the trend that the state is said to always seek to hide, even repress, protect the ruling party, not the people. Many consider this institution. Due to his power and his rights, he was too conservative in his view of land ownership, “Dr. Mai Thanh Son told BBC News Vietnamese on September 17 from Hanoi.
