The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on December 26 opened a first-instance trial on a terrorism plot targeting Tan Son Nhat International Airport involving 16 suspects.

At the first-instance trial (Photo: tuoitre.vn)

Dang Hoang Thien (born in 1992, residing District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), Nguyen Duc Sinh (born in 1985 in Quang Ngai) and 13 accomplices are accused of “conducting terrorism against the people’s administration”, under Article No.84 of the Vietnam Penal Code 1999. Meanwhile, Le Thi Thu Phuong (born in 1996, Thien’s girlfriend) was prosecuted for not denouncing the crimes. 

According to the indictment, Thien, Sinh and several other accomplices used petrol bomb to set fire to a police warehouse where motorbikes of traffic rule violators were in Bien Hoa city, the southern province of Dong Nai, on April 8, 2017. Sinh was the person who planned the scheme and set fire himself. 

On April 22, 2017, Thien and three others planted two petrol bombs at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. One bomb was detonated but the relevant forces were able to prevent it from causing any destructive consequences. Thien was the instigator of the terrorism case.

The suspects are alleged to act under the instruction of Dao Minh Quan and Pham Lisa, who led an oversea reactionary terrorist group, which used social networks to entice many people in Vietnam to set up terrorist groups planning to conduct terrorist acts and sabotage in the country.  

The suspects are also charged with illegal trade of weapons and making bombs for terrorism activities.

The trial will last until December 29.-VNA