An appeals court in the central city of Da Nang released two convicts on Wednesday, after they plead guilty to “causing public disorder” and “resisting officials on duty.” 

Following their admission of guilt, the court reduced their sentence to time served.

Last October, Phan Thi Nhan, 46, and Nguyen Huu Minh, 48 were sentenced to nine months and 12 months in prison respectively after they got involved in a scuffle with security forces during the attempted burial of a local resident.

The Da Nang People’s Court upheld suspended sentences against five others who were taken into custody during the case.

On March 19 last year, the Cam Le District’s People’s Committee, the local government, had ordered locals to cease burying their deceased at the Con Dau Cemetery. The site had been earmarked for development into a new urban area and all existing graves were to be moved as well.

According to the official indictment, Minh and Nhan incited relatives of Dang Thi Tan, a woman who died on May 1, to bury her in the Con Dau Cemetery in defiance of the order.

On May 4, according to the indictment, the bereaved family and others attending the funeral insulted and fought security forces guarding the graveyard.