A Vietnamese farmer who became a folk hero after using homemade weapons to resist eviction was handed an unexpectedly lenient sentence of five years Friday for attempted murder.
Fish farmer Doan Van Vuon is led into a courtroom at a local People's Court House in Hai Phong on April 2, 2013. The Vietnamese farmer who became a folk hero after using homemade weapons to resist eviction was handed an unexpectedly lenient sentence of five years Friday for attempted murder.
Doan Van Vuon and his family rose to prominence after arming themselves with makeshift shotguns to hold off local officials trying to remove them from their fish farm in Tien Lang district, 90 kilometres (55 miles) east of Hanoi.
The January 2012 incident, in which seven policemen were injured, quickly became a symbol of rising public dissatisfaction over land rights.
"The defendants disrespected the law and endangered people's lives," court president Pham Duc Tuyen said.
Three of Vuon's male relatives were sentenced to between two and five years in prison on the same charge of attempted murder.
Government prosecutors took into account public opinion towards the case, which involved the "sensitive and complicated matter of the land law" Tuyen said.
Land is a divisive issue in communist Vietnam. It is wholly owned by the state and rights of use are not always clear or protected.
Millions of rural tenants like Vuon are vulnerable to the whims of local officials, who can reclaim land for vaguely defined "public interest" reasons, which experts say leads to widespread local corruption.
The Vuon family's rare act of defiance in the tightly-controlled state triggered a nationwide outpouring of support, with even Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung saying the eviction was "illegal" and promising to prosecute corrupt local officials.
Tuyen said that the Vuon eviction was "not in accordance with the law" and that the light sentences demonstrated "the state's lenient and humanitarian policy, contributing to stabilising the political situation in the area".
Vuon's wife and sister-in-law received suspended sentences of 15 and 18 months on the lesser charge of resisting public officials on duty.
Vuon's lawyer told reporters after the trial that he was "very unhappy" and had hoped for lighter sentences.
Vuon had told the court that his actions were driven by his anger over his illegal forced eviction.
"I do not admit to the crime of murder. I propose the court to charge me on the basis that my behaviour was legitimate self-defence," he told the court.
Scores of people showed up on the opening day of Vuon's trial Tuesday to show their support for his stance but police broke up the protest, and heavy police presence outside the Hai Phong People's Court on the final day kept activists away.
Journalists who attempted to approach the court to take photographs were threatened with arrest and told to leave the area.
The light sentence given to Vuon is likely due to the Vietnamese government recognising it is on "the wrong side of public opinion on this case" said Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director at Human Rights Watch.
"Many people in the country have profound grievances around land seizures, corrupt officials, and a lack of justice," he said.
"The fact that this case has struck a chord with the wider public provides ample reason for the authorities to go lightly on Vuon, and hope that the whole episode is forgotten as soon as possible."
He warned that Vuon's decision to use illegal violence to defend his land rights was one of many similar incidents, which should be a "warning sign" to the authorities about the need to act on the flashpoint issue of land rights.
More than 70 percent of all complaints lodged with authorities nationwide concern land. Twenty-year land-leases issued in 1993 will expire this year and the government has not made it clear how this will be resolved.