They are charged with terrorism.
The highest sentence is 16 years in prison for Dang Hoang Thien, 24, in HCM City who was defined as the group’s leader. It was followed by Thai Han Phong, 36, in Dong Nai Province with 14 years in prison and Nguyen Thi Chung, 38, in Ben Tre Province with 12 years.
The defendants at the trial in HCM City on December 27
Meanwhile, Nguyen Duc Sinh, 32, in Quang Ngai Province was sentenced to 10 years in prison for attacking the police's building for impounded bikes in Bien Hoa Province in April in another of the group's plots.
Other accomplices of the group were sentenced to 5-11 years in jail. Thien's girlfriend Le Thi Thu Phuong got a suspended sentence of 18 months in prison for withholding information.
According to the indictment, the defendants acted under the instruction of Dao Minh Quan and Pham Lisa from California, who led an overseas anti-state group which incited people in Vietnam.
On April 8, Thien, Sinh and several other accomplices used a petrol bomb to set fire to the police motorbike compound in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province, causing losses of nearly VND1.3 billion (USD57,300).
After that, they continued buying materials to manufacture two petrol bombs which could be detonated remotely for a terrorist attack at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.
On April 21, Thien’s group transported the two bombs inside paper boxes. One was put in the parking lot and the other was at the international terminal. However, their plot failed.
The group also planned for many other terrorist bombings in police stations and border posts and joined demonstrations in the area around Saigon Cathedral in HCM City.
