‘Folk hero’ farmer: Vietnam appeals court conviction

From Radio Free Asia

A Vietnamese appeals court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of a former soldier-turned farmer who was jailed for five years for putting up an armed fight against security forces who evicted him and his family from their farm in a high-profile case.

Doan Van Vuon (C) listens to his verdict at court in Hai Phong, April 5, 2013. Photo from Radio Free Asia.

The Hai Phong Appeals Court in northern Vietnam also dismissed fish farmer Doan Van Vuon’s demand for compensation of 30 billion Vietnamese dong (U.S. $1.4 million) from the local authorities in Hai Phong’s Tien Lang district over the case, which had highlighted public resentment over government land grabs.

“We knew this would happen,” his wife Nguyen Thi Thuong told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. She could not attend the court hearing as she was ill and had asked her sister-in-law to represent her.

Vuon was ordered to pay 23 million dong (U.S. $1,090) in damages for losing the case.

Vuon, his two brothers, and a nephew had faced attempted murder charges after four policemen and two soldiers suffered serious injuries during the clash as they used land mines and homemade shotguns to ward off enforcement officers sent to repossess their farm in January 2012.

But the Hai Phong People’s Court delivered unexpectedly “lenient” sentences after convicting them in April last year, ordering Vuon, 50, to serve five years in jail along with his brother Doan Van Quy, while a third brother, Doan Van Sinh, received three-and-a-half years imprisonment and Sinh’s son Doan Van Ve was handed a two-year sentence.

Vuon’s wife Thuong and Quy’s wife Pham Thi Bau Hien received suspended sentences of one-and-a-quarter years and one-and-a-half years respectively for protesting during the eviction

According to Vietnamese law, a conviction of attempted murder carries a minimum sentence of 12 years in prison and a maximum of the death penalty.

Read the full story from Radio Free Asia.