Dien Bien rebels on trial for killing border guard

The trial began yesterday of 29 people including 19 overseas Vietnamese who mounted an armed attack last October that left one border guard dead in Dien Bien Province's Muong Nhe District.

The defendants are being charged with having committed offences under Article 83 of the Penal Code.


According to the indictment filed by the Dien Bien People's Procuracy, the 29 defendants are among 37 members of a criminal gang, eight of whom are on the run, including Thao A Lu – the suspected ringleader.

The prosecutors said that the gang went on a shooting spree on October 15, 2012 at soldiers on duty in Sen Thuong Commune in Muong Nhe District, killing one border guard and injuring four policemen.

They said Thao A Lu and a person named Vang A Ia led a group of 19 overseas Vietnamese and 16 Dien Bien residents to execute a plan that involved seizing weapons and attacking several targets in Muong Nhe District with the goal of setting up what they called the "Mong Kingdom".

The prosecution charged that all defendants were aware of the group's scheme to oppose the people's administration and engage in armed violence to achieve their objective.

They joined in the activities fully knowing that their actions violated the law, the prosecutors asserted, adding that the defendants had endangered the safety of the people's administration and disturbed social security and order.

Eight defendants are being charged with rebellion under Item 1, Article 83 of the Penal Code, while the other 21 are accused of being accomplices under Item 2.

The trial is scheduled to run until April 8.