The appeal court of the Supreme People’s Court in northen Hai Phong City today opened an appeal trial for a 50-year-old farmer in the northern city’s Tien Lang District and his five accomplices who violently resisted on-duty officers last year, causing injuries to seven people.

The farmer is Doan Van Vuon, of the district’s Vinh Quang commune, and his accomplices are Doan Van Quy, 47 (Vuon’s brother), Doan Van Sinh, 56, and Doan Van Ve, 39, Nguyen Thi Thuong, 43 (Vuon’s wife), and Pham Thi Bau, 31 (Quy’s wife).

Vuon, Quy, Sinh and Ve were indicted on charges of “attempted murder” while Thuong and Bau were prosecuted for “resisting on-duty officers”.

At their instance trial held in early April, Vuon and Quy received the same sentence of five years in prison while Sinh and Ve got three years and six months and two years in jail respectively. Thuong and Quy were respectively given 15-month and 18-month suspended sentences. They have all appealed their sentences. Judge Nguyen Vinh Quang is chairing the appeal hearing that was opened this morning and is expected to last until July 31. Nine lawyers are defending the defendants while the victims of the violent resistance are represented by one lawyer. According to the indictment, the district People’s Committee in 1993 allocated 21 hectares of alluvial land in Vinh Quang Commune to Vuon, with a use term of 14 months. Vuon later encroached on 19.3 hectares outside the allocated area, so the local authorities fined him but also issued a decision to allocate that land to Vuon for use in aquaculture. On April 7, 2009, the district authorities issued a decision to withdraw the 19.3 hectare land as the use term had been expired, but Vuon did not agree to the withdrawal and filed a suit to the city People’s Court but lost the case. The district authorities later issued a decision of forced land eviction and a plan thereof to take back the land from Vuon, who, together with his relatives, erected fences to block access to the land, bought shotguns and laid homemade landmines on paths leading to the land. On January 5, 2012 when the force that was executing the forced land eviction decision was approaching the land, Vuon and his accomplices activated the landmines and opened fire on them, injuring seven members of the force.

Vuon and his five accomplices were arrested the same day but Thuong and Bau were later released on bail.