Cause
The incident was triggered by the Đồng Tâm commune's opposition to the Mỹ Đức District government assigning their land to theEvents
Villagers' view
On April 15, 2017, according to a villager who spoke to theAuthorities' report
According to the Hanoi authorities, the military land was misused. A trial for disrupting public order was decided on March 30, leading to the decision to arrest four people. Hanoi authorities said that they were taking measures to rein in the situation, with rescuing the detained officers prioritized. They urged residents to stay calm and cooperate, ensuring the officers' safety. Media coverage was scarce.Timeline
April 17
The district government reportedly cut electricity and the Internet to the commune. Lawyer Trần Vũ Hải posted onApril 18
Trần Vũ Hải said that Mayor Chung told him he did not promise anything, but the villagers and other lawyers also heard him.April 19
April 20
During the afternoon, Mayor Nguyễn Đức Chung went to the Mỹ Đức district to discuss dealing with the residents of Đồng Tâm with theApril 21
Only a representative of the commune of Đồng Tâm attended a meeting; no villagers were present. Chung said, "Tomorrow ndthe day after that I am ready to talk with the villagers of Đồng Tâm ...". He appealed to them to obey the law, remove the roadblocks, and release the 20 police officers and officials to their families. Hanoi National Assembly member Trần Thị Quốc Khánh said that a Hanoi assembly member would meet with Mỹ Đức voters in the morning: "Since being elected less than a year ago, I met with voters but nobody has discussed the matter with Hanoi's representatives yet. We are ready to listen, ndwe also make our telephone number public for people to call at any time. I believe that the most important thing is discussion, meeting and listening to the people. In all the problems, both sides have to act according to the law and not without thinking and only feeling." Hoành deputy chief Lê Đình Ba said that the villagers had released Mỹ Đức political propaganda department chief Đặng Văn Cảnh, and were clearing the roads for Mayor Chung.April 22
Chung came to Đồng Tâm in the morning to meet with the villagers for over two hours; 50 were invited, and others could listen to a loudspeaker outside. Nine villagers expressed their views, bringing up issues which were addressed by Chung: * About their demand that the Viettel Group stop building, Hanoi decided on April 20 to investigate the land dispute and issue a result in 45 days. * About Mỹ Đức saying that the disputed land is military land, there was an order to stop because it was being investigated. * About their suggestion of coming to suppress them, there would be no effort to rescue the hostages. * About their appeal that they not be taken to court, Chung said that the arrests were improper because the police did not show arrest warrants or wear uniforms; because the people cooperated, they would be judged leniently. The remaining 19 hostages were then released. It was later announced that Chung had promised not to investigate the incident.Police investigation
Vietnamese police began a criminal investigation of farmers in Đồng Tâm on June 13, despite a promise by Mayor Chung not to prosecute them as a result of hostage-release negotiations during an April standoff between villagers and local government. The investigation focused on the illegal detention of 38 police officers and officials and vandalism allegedly committed by farmers after a clash over the government's seizure of land in the village.2020 Đồng Tâm raid
At dawn on January 9, 2020, more than one thousand policemen carried raided Đồng Tâm and killed village representative Lê Đình Kình. Three police officers were killed, and 20 villagers who were involved in the land dispute and hostage-taking were arrested and prosecuted. According to a land-rights activist, Lê Đình Kình was shot four times in front of his wife.See also
* 2018 Vietnam protestsReferences
External links