Two people proposed to be sentenced to death in the Dong Tam case

On the morning of September 9, the third working day, when reading the indictment against 29 defendants in the case that occurred in Dong Tam commune, My Duc district, the Hanoi People's Procuracy proposed changing the charges.

With 6 defendants prosecuted for the crimeMurderi, the People's Procuracy proposed that the Hanoi People's Court sentence Le Dinh Cong, 56 years old, son of Le Dinh Kinh (deceased) and Le Dinh Chuc, 40 years old, to death; Le Dinh Doanh, 32 years old, son of Le Dinh Cong, to life in prison; Bui Viet Hieu, 77 years old and Nguyen Quoc Tien to 16-18 years in prison; Nguyen Van Tuyen to 14-16 years in prison.

In 19 people, the charges were changed toResisting law enforcement officers, The People's Procuracy proposed to sentence Nguyen Van Quan, 40 years old, Le Dinh Uy, 27 years old, and Le Dinh Quang, 36 years old, each to 6-7 years in prison. The remaining 16 defendants requested a minimum of 15-18 months in prison but with a suspended sentence, and a maximum of 5-6 years in prison.

Four people charged with Resisting Law Enforcement Officers were sentenced to 15 to 18 months in prison, but given suspended sentences.

Defendant Le Dinh Cong. Photo:VNA

The People's Procuracy determined that this was an especially serious criminal case. While the police were on duty, the defendants together shouted and incited, attacking, causing the deaths of three soldiers. This was an "organized, hooligan-like, brutal killing of many people" act; there was close collusion, under the leadership of Mr. Kinh.

"The police force lost three officers, their families lost three loved ones, but we believe their sacrifices were not in vain when they contributed to bringing peace to society and awakening the conscience of criminals," the People's Procuracy stated its opinion.

Analysis of the reasons for the proposal to change the charge from Murder to Resisting a Law Enforcement OfficerRegarding the 19 defendants, the representative of the People's Procuracy said that they all participated in the crime to a certain extent, together made weapons, and contributed money to buy grenades under the command of Mr. Kinh and his son.

The defendants were present at Mr. Kinh’s house on the night of January 8 to participate in a meeting to discuss how to resist the police, together bringing bricks, petrol bombs, steel wool, and flares to the roof to prepare for an attack. When the police showed up, they threw bricks, petrol bombs, and petrol bombs at the police, directly resisting and assisting their accomplices in the murder.

Defendants at trial. Photo:Nam Anh

However, the Procuracy found that during the trial, 19 people realized their mistakes and repented. They were lured, incited and promised to be divided land, so they blindly trusted and joined the "consensus group", following Mr. Kinh's group to commit crimes.

"In essence, they were not fierce opponents; they committed the crime with indirect intent, not directly committing the act that resulted in the death of three police officers," the prosecutor stated, adding that it was necessary to apply a lighter charge, the lowest level of the penalty framework, to some defendants.

The indictment stated that the land in Senh field, Dong Tam commune, was concluded to be national defense land. However, since 2013, Mr. Kinh, along with defendants Hieu, Cong, Tuyen and many others, had established a "consensus group" with the purpose of inciting people to retake the land to divide it among themselves.

At the end of 2019, when the Air Defense - Air Force Service, Ministry of National Defense planned to build a fence to protect Mieu Mon airport, Mr. Kinh directed Cong to discuss with members of the "consensus group" to buy grenades and prepare weapons to "attack and destroy" the police on duty to protect security and order.

At dawn on January 9, seeing the police entering the Mieu Mon area, defendants Cong, Hieu and Tuyen live-streamed the images on Facebook and rang the alarm bell. When the police arrived at the gate of Hoanh village, members of the "consensus group" and many defendants simultaneously threw bricks, petrol bombs, and tinder at the law enforcement officers. The police used loudspeakers to call for a halt to the attack, but to no avail.

In order to prevent the crime, a task force moved in to suppress and arrest the criminals. While on duty, three policemen were pushed into a pit and doused with gasoline to set them on fire. The soldiers died from "suffocation and total body charring".

This afternoon, the court continues with the debate. The trial is expected to last 10 days./.