April 5, 2013, 12:57 p.m. ET – By JAMES HOOKWAY And NGUYEN ANH THU
HAIPHONG, Vietnam – Two Vietnamese fish farmers who laid mines and fired homemade guns at police attempting to evict them were convicted and sentenced to five years in prison Friday in a case that has cast a spotlight on the contentious issue of land rights in the one-party Communist state.
Doan Van Vuon, a 50-year-old army veteran, became an underground folk hero when he resisted a government land grab in January 2012.
Mr. Vuon and his brother, Doan Van Quy, and other members of their family had established a thriving fish and prawn farm on 41 hectares, or 101 acres, of swampland they were given in 1993 near the bustling port city of Haiphong, 60 miles east of Hanoi. In 2007, authorities informed the family that they wanted the land back—an increasingly common occurrence in fast-growing Vietnam—without offering compensation. Continue reading