April 5, 2013
A court sentenced a family of four Vietnamese fish farmers to prison terms of two to five years on Friday after finding them guilty of attempted murder for fighting back against a state eviction squad with homemade guns and land mines last year.
The defendants, led by Doan Van Vuon, left, have been lauded on the Internet for defending their land near Haiphong. Seven security officers sustained minor injuries in the confrontation. Land grabs by corrupt officials are the leading source of public anger toward the one-party government in Vietnam.
After an investigation, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ruled that the eviction was illegal, and ordered the officials who had carried it out to be punished. Members of Doan Van Vuon’s family say the authorities gave them the 101 acres in 1993, when it was swampland. They transformed it into a fish and prawn business. In 2009, the authorities said they wanted the land back and did not offer the family compensation. Since the prime minister’s order declaring the eviction illegal, the family has been allowed to keep the land.
Source: The New York Times
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