Defendants at the instance court on Sept. 26 (Source:VNA)Binh Thuan (VNA) – The Bac Binh district People’s Court in the central province of Binh Thuan handed out prison sentences ranging from two to four years to 15 defendants involved in disturbances of social order at Phan Ri Thanh commune on June 11 at a trial on September 26.
The defendants were convicted of “causing public disorder” in accordance with Points b, c, d in Clause 2, Article 318 of the 2015 Penal Code.
Pham Thanh was sentenced to four years and six months in prison. Bui Thanh Tu, Nguyen Van Tien, Dang Van Tuan, Dang Ngoc Tan each got four years in prison. Do Van Thang, Nguyen Ngoc Binh, Nguyen Van Tan, Nguyen Tan Vu, Nguyen Van Thuan will each serve three years and six months behind bars.
The court also gave jail sentences of three years to Tran Van Xi, Ho Thanh Tam, Nguyen Van Hieu and Nguyen Van Hung, and two years to Ngo Duc Thuan.
According to indictment, between 9am and 13:30pm on June 11, many people gathered on the National Highway 1A, locating in Binh Long village, Phan Ri Thanh commune. Police and the local government used loudspeaker to ask participants to disperse to prevent traffic jams and not take actions that threaten social security and order.
However, some people attacked police with sticks, bricks, stones and homemade petrol bombs. They also burned fire trucks and damaged facilities at the headquarters of the Fire Fighting and Prevention Office in the district.
The court found the actions of the defendants were extremely serious, disrupting traffic on National Highway 1A for many hours and affecting the locality’s political security, social order and safety.
To prevent similar crimes, strict punishment should be imposed, they said.
However, the jury said, during the investigation, the defendants had told the truth and admitted their acts were illegal. Thus, they were enjoyed extenuating circumstances.-VNA
