More than four years after 3,000 police raided Dong Tam commune in the dead of night, three of the protesters subsequently jailed have been released early from prison for good behavior.

On April 9, Le Dinh Uy, Le Dinh Quang and Nguyen Van Quan returned home nine months ahead of their five year prison sentences for resisting police.

“When he returned we were very happy,” said Du Thi Thanh, grandmother of Le Dinh Uy.

“But the children were very weak like they’d been kept in miserable conditions.”

Thanh’s husband Le Dinh Kinh was shot in his bedroom by police during the attack on Dong Tam commune, which was carried out on the pretext of stopping protesters delaying the construction of a military airport on land they were farming.

His two sons, Le Dinh Cong and Le Dinh Chuc, were arrested and later sentenced to death for murder for allegedly causing the deaths of three policemen. The police never produced the officers’ bodies.

Thanh said her family still visits her two sons every month at a detention center in Hanoi. The meetings are strictly monitored by police and the family are only allowed to discuss health issues.

Both have health problems, one suffering the after effects of a fractured skull inflicted during the attack, and one with a severely swollen stomach and ulcers all over his body.

Family members say Chuc told them he doesn’t believe he will survive under those conditions for another year.

Five of the eight people sentenced to prison for resisting the police have now been released. Two more, Bui Van Tien and Le Dinh Quan will be set free in May and June respectively.

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn and Elaine Chan.