Dong Tam case: Appeal court upholds sentences for six defendants

Hanoi (VNA) - The High-level People's Court in Hanoi upheld the penalties handed down at the first instance trial to six defendants with appeals in the case of “murder” and “resisting on-duty officers” that happened in Hoanh village of Dong Tam commune in Hanoi’s My Duc district during an appeal trial on March 9.

The defendants lodging appeals are Le Dinh Cong, Le Dinh Chuc, Le Dinh Doanh, Bui Viet Hieu, Nguyen Quoc Tien, and Bui Thi Noi.

At the first-instance trial held in September last year, the Hanoi People’s Court handed down penalties to 29 defendants.

Found guilty of “murder”, Cong and Chuc were sentenced to death, Doanh life imprisonment, Hieu 16 years in prison, and Tien 13 years behind bars.

With the same offence, Nguyen Van Tuyen received a penalty of 12 years in jail.

Accused of “resisting on-duty officers”, 23 other defendants were given sentences of between 15 months’ probation to six years in prison. Among them, Bui Thi Noi was imprisoned for six years.

At the trial, all the six defendants showed their repentance and begged for sentence reductions.

The defendants accused of “murder” had closely colluded with others who were key members of a so-called “group of consensus” led by Le Dinh Kinh. Kinh was shot dead while holding a grenade and calling on others to resist on-duty officers.

Cong was the leader and often incited others to kill police officers by posting video clips and livestreaming on social networks. He also threatened to bomb power stations and kill 300-500 police officers, assigned tasks to other defendants, and actively performed these acts.

He also directed and contributed money to buy petrol and grenades, guided others how to make petrol bombs and tinder, and directly threw petrol bombs and grenades toward on-duty officers.

According to the appeal court, this is the serious case of murder” and “resisting on-duty officers”. The defendants' actions were particularly dangerous, defying the law and disregarding the lives and health of others. This was organized and barbaric crime that resulted in the death of three on-duty police soldiers.

The first instance verdict is completely grounded and lawful, the court affirmed.

The sentence for each defendant handed down at the first-instance trial is in accordance with legal regulations, demonstrating the tolerance of law and corresponding to the nature and level of crime committed by each defendant. Therefore, the court confirmed that there is no basis to accept the defendants’ appeals and lawyers' advocacy./.