Two people have been sentenced to death and another to life in prison for murdering three policemen in a mob attack in Dong Tam Commune of Hanoi’s My Duc District earlier this year. 

The municipal People’s Court announced the sentences for 29 defendants on Monday, following a trial that lasted over one week.

Accordingly, Le Dinh Cong and Le Dinh Chuc were given the death penalty for murder.

Le Dinh Doanh received a life sentence, while Bui Viet Hieu, Nguyen Quoc Tien, and Nguyen Van Tuyen were put behind bars for 16 years, 13 years, and 12 years, respectively, for the same offense.

The remaining 23 defendants were given between a 15-month suspended sentence and six years in prison for resisting on-duty officers.

According to the indictment, a man named Le Dinh Kinh and several other people established a so-called 'group of consensus' in Dong Tam Commune in 2013.

The group accused local authorities of stealing land from residents and incited locals to file lawsuits.

Cong, Chuc, Doanh, Hieu, Tuyen, and Tien were key members of this group.

They often posted videos calling on others to resist officers and once threatened to kill 300-500 police officers if the law enforcement came to Dong Tam.

Cong and Tien also bought iron batons and bricks, and made petrol bombs to obstruct on-duty policemen.

On January 9, after acknowledging the appearance of on-duty officers in Hoanh Village in Dong Tam Commune, Chuc and other defendants brought weapons to the rooftop of a neighboring house. 

They threw four petrol bombs and one grenade at police officers, and used handmade weapons to attack the officers, causing three of them to fall into a pit dug by the defendants beforehand.

Chuc and Doanh repeatedly poured petrol into the pit and set it on fire, killing the three policemen.

While Chuc and Doanh directly caused the death of the officers, the jury stated that Cong was the mastermind behind the plan and played the most important role in the murder.

Hieu and Tuyen, driven by greed for land, incited others to commit the crimes.

As the death of the policemen was associated with their behavior, they had to be punished strictly, judges said, adding that there were also mitigating circumstances, as Hieu committed the crime when he was over 70 years old and Tuyen is a person with disabilities.

Tien was confirmed to have participated in the case from the beginning and actively contributed money to buy grenades and petrol to make petrol bombs.

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