It seems that the trial of 29 Dong Tam villagers was “closely directed to the end of certain leaders” – that is the judgment of Lawyer Ngo Ngoc Trai when attending the trial that many observers judged that there will be a pocket judgment.
The phrase “pocket judgment” (sentences set before a hearing occurs by authorities) appeared with the observations of the trial participants in Vietnam many years ago, when it was discovered that the presiding judge of the trial sometimes received pieces of paper from outside, right on trial in front of hundreds of participants’ eyes.
“As someone who attended the trial from start to its end, he has witnessed many meaningful things.
On the day of the verdict, as soon as the presiding judge was reading the verdict, the court staff took the papers twice to hand them over to the Trial Panel,” defense lawyer Ngo Ngoc Trai recounted what he observed directly in the trial.
This shows that at the last moments of the case there are still guiding opinions on the verdict, suggesting a deep stellar scrutiny by certain levels of leadership over the court ruling.
During the trial that lasted for several days, there was not in the voice of the presiding judge the tough attitude required in a case of this nature, but instead there were times when his questioning voice was moved as he wanted to cry, suggesting another implications for the case.
All resources are promoted to help resolve cases in which there is an institutional advantage, even the prison officers who do not have a procedural role have participated in the education of awareness of the defendants to sincerely repent.
During the days of the trial, in the morning and late afternoon hours, the road from the detention center to the courthouse was blocked for the convoy to escort the defendant to the court or back to the detention center.
A preference is usually only found in relocation arrangements for senior leaders of the regime. This shows a great deal of concern by authorities at all levels over the dangers that could add to the social upheaval.
In fact, the trial process shows that the Trial Panel only focuses on the actions of the defendants to deal with, regardless of the circumstances that have pushed the group of land petitioners to protest.
The Trial Panel also does not consider the factors of the command’s unreasonable mobilization order or arrest warrant that have contributed to the consequences of the crime.
Such a resolution will make the resolution of the case not completely objective as required by the Criminal Procedure Code and cannot be shown to overcome the conditions leading to the crime,” lawyer Ngo Ngoc Trai said.
From the perspective of an observer, architect-observer Duong Quoc Chinh made a comment:
From Dong Tam case to review conceptions of many people
I am only an observer and assessor of political and social issues, not an activist. So often through political and social events, I often observe the reactions of groups of people to predict changes in politics. The Dong Tam fact is a classic case.
In terms of the nature of the case, this is a civil case that is pushed into a criminal case and has political influence, but it is not purely a political case. The defendants are not reactionary, even on the contrary, like Mr. Le Dinh Kinh and Mr. Bui Viet Hieu- long-time communist members, still believe in the leadership of the party and its general secretary!
The defendants are only against the public officials, in a few cases (allegedly) over-fighting turns into murder. The defendants are absolutely not anti-government, and not guilty of national security. That is not entangled in political crimes (which the police still consider a criminal offense).
Therefore, defending the defendants and analyzing the violations of the authorities, the loopholes in criminal science and logic of the court and the Procuracy used to impeach and adjudicate the defendants. This is legal
But when only talking about law, criminal science and logic like me, why did many government supporters rush in and curse anti-government?
This is purely a matter of legal and political awareness of many really young people. Usually they identify the party, the Communist regime with the nation, it is easy to understand. Now they identify the police, the procuracy, and the Court with the Communist regime! They consider criticizing the Army, the Police, the Court, and the Procuracy as anti-regime!
Regarding legal awareness, I noticed that many people, often state officials, civil servants, party members, the armed forces and their relatives, taking party in debating at different groups and showed that they were brainwashed, have no independent thinking not knowing right and wrong based on reason and law. They implicitly consider the Court’s judgment to be correct, consider the conviction of the guilty as the highest proof that the defendant is guilty. They often complain: “If there is no guilt, why do the defendants admit guilt and offer apologies to the victim’s relative?“
I do not repeat here the analysis of right and wrong I wrote in the previous statuses. But looking at that reality is very concerned for the intellect of several million Party members, civil servants and people who have been indoctrinated by propaganda and threatened by the police.
In terms of fear, this Dong Tam case is one of the most silent events for people, because the police are the most horrifying force for the people right now. Everyone is afraid of the police. Many people still dare to speak against violence, but in this case, they remain silent. That is how the communist regime is also the police regime, the government is governing the people based on the fear of the majority. But this fear is sometimes ambiguous, the people scare each other and the police do not need to threaten! It was the ultimate success of the regime, which created the same fear that they may be next victims.
With the above observations, I evaluate that this regime is still very sustainable. Because it has also brainwashed many people and made many people afraid of the police, ” architect Duong Quoc Chinh stated.
Journalist Vu Huu Su gives an overview with the article: Gains and losses of Dong Tam case with the content as follows:
Through the Dong Tam case, the only goal of the government was to swallow 59 hectares of land in Dong Senh, the poor land for agriculture. If is calculated according to the compensation price, it is unlikely to be equal to the odd number that Mr. Pham Phu Quoc had spent to buy a Cypriot citizenship.
Second, is to prohibit the press and public servants and organizations from going to Hoanh village to conduct independent investigations, and prohibiting filming of Le Dinh Kinh’s funeral.
Third, falsely accused Le Dinh Kinh of terrorism in order to block the account of receiving money sent by the people nationwide.
Fourthly, to mobilize an extremely large press team to jump into denunciations, accusing Mr. Le Dinh Kinh and 29 innocent land petitioners arrested in Hoanh village on January 9, 2020, of buying rudimentary weapons, grenades, gas, who claims to kill 300 to 500 policemen if the police pull in, even Major General To An Xo, chief of the Ministry of Public Security’s Office and its spokesman, blatantly blamed Le Dinh Kinh as “a new kind of landlord.” But the more he denounced, the more proving that the Hanoi police are both bureaucratic and stupid.
If they already know the land petitioners have such acts, why they have not prosecuted them? By 8 pm on January 8, 2020, no one in Hoanh village was prosecuted, meaning that no one had committed such acts. So why they did kill and arrest the land petitioners?
The fifth is to find ways to make it difficult for lawyers who protect 29 land petitioners of Hoanh village at the first-instance hearing, the trial was in a hurry and did not pay any attention to any evidence and finally sentenced two sons of elderly Kinh to the death penalty.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
