Vietnam’s Dak Lak People’s Court sentenced nearly 100 people, handing down ten life sentences, for involvement in the 2023 Dak Lak gun attacks, Vietnamese state media reported.

The defendants were charged with various offenses under the criminal code of Vietnam including terrorism against the people’s government, terrorism, organizing the illegal exit or entry of others and concealing a crime. After a five-day trial, the jury sentenced ten people on Saturday who had been taking a leadership role in planning and enticing the attacks to life imprisonment; others charged with terrorism against the people’s government or terrorism were sentenced to three and a half to 20 years in prison, while the two defendants charged with organizing illegal entry into Vietnam and concealing crimes received a two-year and a nine-month imprisonment sentence, respectively.

The whereabouts of six of the defendants sentenced for terrorism are currently unknown. The court said they would cooperate with domestic and international authorities to transfer the fugitives back to Vietnam to serve their sentences. 

On June 11, 2023, an unidentified group of people attacked the headquarters of the People’s Committees of Ea Tieu and Ea Ktur communes with guns, leaving nine dead, including four police officers, two commune officials and three civilians, and injuring many others. Prosecutors from Dak Lak said the attacks were associated with the U.S.-based group Support Group for Montagnards (MSGI).