Vu Thi Hai and other land petitioners hold peaceful demonstration before the parliament’s building on the day of arrest
The appeal court still found Vu Thi Hai, a resident from the northern province of Ninh Binh, guilty of causing public disorders near the parliament’s building five months ago although four defending lawyers proved that the charge is fabricated and demanded for her immediate release, said human rights lawyer Tran Thu Nam, one of the lawyers.
By Vu Quoc Ngu, December 09, 2015
The People’s Court in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi on Wednesday [December 09] rejected the appeal of Ninh Binh province-based land petitioner Vu Thi Hai but reduced her 18-month imprisonment to 15 months in jail in a nominally opentrial that was in fact closed to the public and the defendant’s relatives.
The appeal court still found widow Hai, a resident from the northern province of Ninh Binh, guilty of causing public disorders near the parliament’s building five months ago although four defending lawyers proved that the charge is fabricated and demanded for her immediate release, said human rights lawyer Tran Thu Nam, one of the lawyers.
The sentence reduction was made as the appeal court found that the sentence of the first hearing in late September too heavy, lawyer Nam added.
Le Van Luan, who is also one of the four defending lawyers, said the court’s verdict was based only on two decisions on administrative fines against widow Hai of the Hanoi municipal People’s Committee which were issued illegally.
On June 9, Hai and many other land petitioners strived to approach the building of Vietnam’s legislative body National Assembly in the city’s center in a bid to meet with lawmakers to hand over their petitions to them. However, security forces detained her and some others, taking them to Ha Dong district where they released others but kept widow Hai and later charged her for conducting public disturbance under Article 245 of the country’s Penal Code issued in 2003.
Similar to the trial three months ago, authorities in Hanoi today deployed a large number of police officers and plainclothes agents to block hundreds of land petitioners from approaching the courtroom on Hai Ba Trung street in the city’s center. Authorities detained Duong Van Tuyen, a son of Hai’s, and kept him in police station until late afternoon after the appeal ended.
Police also shortly detained activists Ngo Duy Quyen and Kim Chi, who earlier tried to enter the courtroom, on their way from the court to their houses.
Hai became a land petitioner several years ago after local authorities allegedly cheated her family and transferred the ownership of about five hectares of her family’s land to local communal cadres.
Hai protested the grabbing by going to government agencies in different levels from the home district to the highest level in Hanoi to file complaints against the illegal land seizure. However, not only had her voice been ignored, the police considered her as a trouble maker and often harassed her and other land petitioners.
Duong Van Tuyen, who has tried to seek justice for his mother, has also been suppressed by Hanoi’s police. Security forces in the capital city deported him on September 1, several hours before the grand parade which marked the country’s 70th independence day.
Mrs. Hai joined hundreds of other land petitioners nationwide to rally in Hanoi’s streets and gather in front of government buildings to demand for the return of their land or market price compensation for their illegally-seized land. They live in streets, sleep in parks and often receive financial supports from people.
Hanoi police have regularly attacked these petitioners, beating them and destroying their temporary tents or hiring thugs to throw dirty substances at them in a bid to expel them back to their home provinces.
Numerous Vietnamese land petitioners have been arrested and charged with conducting public disturbance under Article 245 of the Penal Code. Many of them have been jailed for peaceful protest against illegal land seizure, according to local media.
Land seizure is one of the systematic issues in communist Vietnam where all land belongs to the state and residents have only the right to use it.
According to the current Land Law, the government can take land from the people for defense purposes and socio-economic development. In many localities, local authorities have seized land from residents for urban and industrial development without paying adequate compensations.
Illegal land seizures in many Vietnamese provinces and cities have triggered strong protest from the land owners. In 2013, aquatic farmer Doan Van Vuon used hand-made explosives to attack policemen and soldiers who came to evict his family from his rented land, injuring two soldiers. Vuon was sentenced to seven years in jail but released in late August on the occasion of the country’s 70th anniversary.
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December 9, 2015
Hanoi Court Rejects Appeal of Land Petitioner Vu Thi Hai but Reduces Sentence to 15 Months
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights], Vu Thi Hai (Ninh Binh)
Vu Thi Hai and other land petitioners hold peaceful demonstration before the parliament’s building on the day of arrest
By Vu Quoc Ngu, December 09, 2015
The People’s Court in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi on Wednesday [December 09] rejected the appeal of Ninh Binh province-based land petitioner Vu Thi Hai but reduced her 18-month imprisonment to 15 months in jail in a nominally opentrial that was in fact closed to the public and the defendant’s relatives.
The appeal court still found widow Hai, a resident from the northern province of Ninh Binh, guilty of causing public disorders near the parliament’s building five months ago although four defending lawyers proved that the charge is fabricated and demanded for her immediate release, said human rights lawyer Tran Thu Nam, one of the lawyers.
The sentence reduction was made as the appeal court found that the sentence of the first hearing in late September too heavy, lawyer Nam added.
Le Van Luan, who is also one of the four defending lawyers, said the court’s verdict was based only on two decisions on administrative fines against widow Hai of the Hanoi municipal People’s Committee which were issued illegally.
On June 9, Hai and many other land petitioners strived to approach the building of Vietnam’s legislative body National Assembly in the city’s center in a bid to meet with lawmakers to hand over their petitions to them. However, security forces detained her and some others, taking them to Ha Dong district where they released others but kept widow Hai and later charged her for conducting public disturbance under Article 245 of the country’s Penal Code issued in 2003.
Similar to the trial three months ago, authorities in Hanoi today deployed a large number of police officers and plainclothes agents to block hundreds of land petitioners from approaching the courtroom on Hai Ba Trung street in the city’s center. Authorities detained Duong Van Tuyen, a son of Hai’s, and kept him in police station until late afternoon after the appeal ended.
Police also shortly detained activists Ngo Duy Quyen and Kim Chi, who earlier tried to enter the courtroom, on their way from the court to their houses.
Hai became a land petitioner several years ago after local authorities allegedly cheated her family and transferred the ownership of about five hectares of her family’s land to local communal cadres.
Hai protested the grabbing by going to government agencies in different levels from the home district to the highest level in Hanoi to file complaints against the illegal land seizure. However, not only had her voice been ignored, the police considered her as a trouble maker and often harassed her and other land petitioners.
Duong Van Tuyen, who has tried to seek justice for his mother, has also been suppressed by Hanoi’s police. Security forces in the capital city deported him on September 1, several hours before the grand parade which marked the country’s 70th independence day.
Mrs. Hai joined hundreds of other land petitioners nationwide to rally in Hanoi’s streets and gather in front of government buildings to demand for the return of their land or market price compensation for their illegally-seized land. They live in streets, sleep in parks and often receive financial supports from people.
Hanoi police have regularly attacked these petitioners, beating them and destroying their temporary tents or hiring thugs to throw dirty substances at them in a bid to expel them back to their home provinces.
Numerous Vietnamese land petitioners have been arrested and charged with conducting public disturbance under Article 245 of the Penal Code. Many of them have been jailed for peaceful protest against illegal land seizure, according to local media.
Land seizure is one of the systematic issues in communist Vietnam where all land belongs to the state and residents have only the right to use it.
According to the current Land Law, the government can take land from the people for defense purposes and socio-economic development. In many localities, local authorities have seized land from residents for urban and industrial development without paying adequate compensations.
Illegal land seizures in many Vietnamese provinces and cities have triggered strong protest from the land owners. In 2013, aquatic farmer Doan Van Vuon used hand-made explosives to attack policemen and soldiers who came to evict his family from his rented land, injuring two soldiers. Vuon was sentenced to seven years in jail but released in late August on the occasion of the country’s 70th anniversary.