Public reaction to the death penalty in Dong Tam’s trial

Immediately after the Hanoi Supreme People’s Court convicted 29 Dong Tam defendants in the first instance session on September 14, Amnesty International (Amnesty) and Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch) rose up. voice expressed opinion on the matter.

In a statement to BBC News Vietnamese, Amnesty International declared that “this is an inhumane sentence after a trial of blatant injustice.”

“19 of the 29 defendants say they have been tortured to plead guilty, a statement that, if correct, seriously undermines the credibility of the sentence and prompts the opening of an independent investigation.” Amnesty has previously pointed to the common use of torture against detainees in Vietnam, “writes Amnesty International.

According to this organization, the voluntary suppression of independent information on social networks related to events in Dong Tam has aroused public discontent and the ‘strange’ proceedings of the session. the court “only raised more suspicions that officials have different versions of the event.”

“The defendants are said to have denied the right to consult a lawyer and only a state newspaper can attend the trial.”

“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and inhuman punishment. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and without exception, regardless of who is accused, the nature or circumstances of the crime, guilt or innocence, or the method of execution, “Amnesty International declared in writing.

On the same day, Mr. Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch Deputy Director for Asia, also spoke about the “harsh sentence” but “no surprise” trial.

“The harsh sentences for the Dong Tam defendants, including two death sentences, are not surprising. Like all courts in Vietnam, this court in Hanoi is not independent because it has to declare the sentences. The trial has been predetermined of according to the ruling of the Communist Party. “

“The Vietnamese authorities are doing their best to show the harshest possible attitude towards the residents of Dong Tam because they fear that opposition in the community will spread unless the accused are exposed to the crime. The most severe punishment. ” .

“With the national congress of the ruling Communist Party taking place in the coming months, it is unlikely that anything more than a hasty trial, through a controlled tribunal, will occur. the penalties are harsh for these defendants. “

“The Vietnamese government has turned these three sacrificed policemen into martyrs for ‘security and order’, but the government’s understanding of that concept certainly does not include respect for human rights. Once again it reminds the world that, along with China, this country is one of the countries that still resolutely uses the death penalty, an inherently barbaric punishment that should never be imposed on anyone. “

“Almost as long as there were peasants, there were peasant revolts (Wikipedia has a long list of these revolts), and they were almost always brutally repressed.”

“In Vietnam, the Tay Son uprising (1769-1788) was successful for a time. Along with several brief peasant revolts against French colonial companies in the first half of the world. 20th century, listed on the school’s history list high school in Vietnam “.

“Today in Vietnam, farmers’ injustice protests are a family story. Mr. Le Dinh Kinh seems to convince himself, his children, his friends and neighbors that legal, if not a legal document, always of his side, with tragic consequences. “

“One day, Mr. Kinh and people like him will also be remembered”

Ms. Nguyen Thi Duyen’s Facebook (Mr. Le Dinh Kinh’s granddaughter) broadcasts live images of Dong Tam people welcoming those who are released from the court. Those who were entitled to this suspended sentence together with other people to visit Le Dinh Kinh’s grave.

On his personal Facebook, journalist Hoang Nguyen Vu wrote:

“I intend not to write anything about the Dong Tam case, accept myself as a coward in the chaos of the times. But now watching VTV1, I see the radio station praising the sentence with 2 death sentences, 1 life imprisonment ( all reserved for one family member, while his father and grandfather had to die in that conflict) is GO GO, REASONABLE CHARITY, I can’t stand it. So VTV?

An attack in which 3 policemen died, an elderly man lost his life, 2 death sentences, 1 life sentence and a series of other sentences – it is a historical pain, for both sides, it is the citizen and soldiers on duty. No one can call death “humanity”, a “rationality”, because those phrases will belong to life and salvation, “said Hoang Nguyen Vu si said.

Master Nghiem Hoa, a researcher and practitioner of human rights and rights-based development in Vietnam, writes on Facebook:

“I am opposed to the death penalty. In any case. The death penalty for Mr. Chuc is also gender discrimination: a woman raising a child is not subject to the death penalty, but a father has a son”. If you’ve just been born, it won’t matter. I heard that VTV comments about this trial is humanistic, I don’t know where this humanity is! “

In response to the report by the Vietnamese television station, journalist Chau Doan wrote on Facebook:

“A death penalty case of 2, with 29 defendants hastily wrapped up in 3 days, ignoring the requirement for field experiments, limiting the defendant’s exposure to the maximum, the evidence given is ambiguous. Silly stuff. The imposing verdict of a dictator that television reports are “humanistic.” It is the humanity of the wolves. A delicious humanity shines in barbarism. The country has abandoned the death penalty. “

Furthermore, a civil society group called ‘Citizen Action’ submitted a petition to oppose the verdict of the trial court on the Dong Tam case.

Many insights have been signed and shared on his Facebook page, such as: Dr. Nguyen Quang A, Dr. Dang Hoang Giang, MSc. Nghiem Hoa, Adjunct Professor – Dr. Nguyen Hoang Anh, Jang Keu (founder of Flood Control House), activists and people.

Following the September 14 verdict, VTV News on the same day reported:

“The murder case and against the executor of the public service in Dong Tam Commune, My Duc District, Hanoi City, is a particularly serious case and is of particular concern to the public. Many subjects violate the law with Dynamic Behavior , brutal, causing social frustration … The trial of first instance has ended with a strict sentence but also full of humanity, showing tolerance towards the accused ”.

“In their last words in court, many of the defendants denied the attorney to continue defending himself because the violation of the law was too obvious.”

“The first instance verdict has been judged by the public to show the rigor of the law, but it is also full of humanity, showing the indulgence of the accused.”