The People’s Court of Bien Hoa city in the southern province of Dong Nai on December 3 sentenced six men from 1 to 2 years and a half in prison for “causing social disturbances” in local industrial zones.

The defendants.

Nguyen Tuan Vu, 19, and Phan Van Loc, 18, from An Giang province; Nguyen Van Son and Dang Minh Cong, both born in 1995 in Dong Nai; and Le Thanh Son, 21, and Do Van Tu, 19, from Dong Thap were declared to “disturb public order”, the charge stated in Article 245 of the Penal Code.

According to the indictment, these people took advantage of the May 12-16 rallies protesting China ’s illegal placement of its Haiyang Shiyou-981 drilling rig in Vietnam ’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf to incite demonstrators to cause disturbances in streets and destroy the assets of companies located in local industrial zones.

At the trial, all the defendants confessed their crimes and showed remorse.

Dong Nai authorities had taken legal proceedings against over 250 people involved in 26 criminal cases of “causing social disturbance”, “destroying property,” “stealing property,” “openly appropriating property,” and “resisting against on-duty officials”.

These people all took advantage of the rallies protesting China ’s violations of Vietnam ’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

VNA/VNN