Hanoi takes measures to ensure security at Dong Tam commune
The authorised agencies of Hanoi are taking measures to restore security and order in Dong Tam commune, My Duc district, where chaos have broken out since late 2016 due to the reclamation of a defence land plot.
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Since October 2014, the entire area has been used by the Air Defence-Air Force Service as the base of Brigade 28.
Under Decision 551/QD-TM dated March 27, 2015, the Ministry of Defence recovered the land, including 46 hectares in Dong Tam commune, and allocated it to the military-run telecommunication Viettel Group to use for the AI defence project.
Earlier, due to poor management of the local government, a number of residents in Hoanh village, Dong Tam commune, had trespassed on the military-managed land farming and building residential structures.
When the Ministry of Defence reclaimed the land, many of the residents lodged their complaints on the issue to authorised district and municipal agencies.
The administrations of My Duc commune and Hanoi have been holding dialogues and various communications measures to settle the matter but those residents failed to strictly abide by legal regulations related.
The My Duc commune People’s Committee sent five interdisciplinary working groups to work with each household but the locals refused to sign in a document committing not to trespassing upon the military land and prompted others to follow.
Since late 2016, security and social order in Dong Tam commune has been complicated mostly due to those locals’ activities to “retrieve” the land piece, which has been confirmed by the authorised agencies of My Duc district, Hanoi and the Ministry of Defence as military land.
They organised various activities causing disorder in the locality, especially when the Viettel Group received the area to implement the project.
Hanoi Police and the Criminal Investigation Agency under the Ministry of Defence and other relevant agencies have gathered documents and evidence relating to the organised violations as these are serious, negatively affecting local security and social order as well as normal operation of local agencies, enterprises and schools.
On March 30, 2017, the Hanoi Police started legal proceedings against the case on“causing public disorder” under Article 245 of the 1999 Criminal Code while the Criminal Investigation Agency under the Ministry of Defence launched legal proceedings for the case on “resisting against on-duty officials” and the case on “violating regulations on land use” in line with Article 257 and Article 173, respectively, of the Code.
The Hanoi Police Department summoned those pertaining to the cases three times but they did not show up and continued opposing activities.
On April 15, 2017, the Hanoi police arrested four violators to serve the investigations into the “causing public disorder” case, but their vehicles were held and damaged, and 38 city policemen and officials of My Duc were illegally apprehended.
Municipal leaders came to the locality, explained the illegal actions to the locals and requested them to release the captured officials and police.
At the same time, the city also sent two working groups to the commune to work with the locals, who, however, did not cooperate and even threw sand and rocks to the officials, injuring some of them.
On April 18, four citizens arrested on April 15 were released as they showed signs of repentance.
Meanwhile, 15 of the apprehended officials and policemen were released by the locals and three officials managed to escape earlier.
The land piece in Dong Tam is military land managed and used by the Ministry of Defence, while Project AI is a huge project with extreme importance to defence and security of the army and the country.
Measures are being deployed to guarantee security and social order in Dong Tam commune, and those behind the legal violations of a number of residents in the commune since the beginning of 2017 shall be punished strictly in line with law.