Farmers in Van Giang Land Seizure Case in Northern Vietnam Jailed for 3-4 Years

Hung Yen authorities deployed armed policemen to evict local residents out of their agricultural field in April 2014

Hung Yen authorities deployed armed policemen to evict local residents out of their agricultural field in April 2014

The BBC cited lawyer Le Van Luan as saying that the trial has some “issues.” He said that the lawyers and some people attended the hearing were not allowed to enter at first. However, they were allowed enter later but only as guests.

by KTT, July 14, 2016

A court in Vietnam’s northern province of Hung Yen on Tuesday handed down jail terms to eight defendants for impeding site clearance activities of a residential project (EcoPark) in Van Giang District in October 2014 out of their dissatisfaction of compensation rates.

The defendants are all farmers and allegedly decline their rights to a lawyer one day before the hearing opened, the BBC Vietnamese said July 12.

The four-year sentences were given to Nguyen Van Long, 54, and Hoang Van Ngu, 48, and the other jail terms were issued to those on charge of “causing social disorder” when they protested the land compensation at Ecopark Urban Area project – one of the huge housing projects in Vietnam’s northern region as it costs $8 billion.

Under the conviction, the defendants were among more than 500 residents living in Cuu Cao commune of Van Giang district who protested and prevented the project investor – Viet Hung Urban Development and Investment J.S.C (VIHAJICO) for unreasonable land compensation. More than 1,000 families were affected by the decision, some said that the officials ignored their legal complaints over the loss of their rice fields for a satellite city.

Land for the EcoPark project was confiscated in two stages in 2009 and 2012, but thousands of households refused to take compensation from the government, saying the amount offered was significantly lower than what they were owed.

On October 5, 2014, investor of Ecopark Hung Viet hired a local company called V&T for site clearance. The company faced protest of local farmers. Two employees of the companies including Nguyen Van Hiep and Tran Van Thuy were dead after clashing with the locals. Two others were injured. All defendants were found to be linked to the event.

All six defendants at the trial did not pledge guilty in killing the two employees but admitted to participating in the strike, not fights, state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.

The BBC cited lawyer Le Van Luan as saying that the trial has some “issues.” He said that the lawyers and some people attended the hearing were not allowed to enter at first. However, they were allowed enter later but only as guests.