Procuracy on March 9 proposed the High People’s Court in Hanoi to uphold six sentences, including two death penalties, to defendants in land-related Dong Tam case that killed three policemen in early 2020.

A defendant brought to appeals court. Photo: Ngoc Thanh/VNExpress

The Procuracy argued that the sentences issued at the first instance court in September 2020 are in accordance with law and right for defendants who are conspirators and lenient for those involved in the case.

In September 2020, the People’s Court of Hanoi handed down capital punishment to two defendants namely Le Dinh Cong, 57, and Le Dinh Chuc, 41, who found guilty of murder.

The pair was convicted of being masterminds behind an organized protest and attacks that caused a clash between villagers and the police on January 9, 2020 over the construction of a military premise in Dong Tam commune in Hanoi’s outlying district of My Duc.

The court also issued a life imprisonment to Le Dinh Doanh, a 32-year-old son of Le Dinh Cong, for the same charge.

Three others also received jail sentences ranging from 12 to 16 years for the charge of murder.

The remaining 23 defendants who were charged with resisting officials on duty will spend from 15 months to 72 months behind bars.

Prosecutors at the first hearing trial said the defendants’ activities were well-organized with tasks assigned to each person, showing aggressive thugs, contempt, and defiance of the law. Murdering many people in a very brutal way, the defendants’ behaviors also affected the correct operations of state agencies, causing disorder in Hanoi and confusion to people, according to the Ministry of Public Security’s mouthpiece Cong An Nhan Dan newspaper.