The court in Can Tho City found the two police officers Bui Duc Nghia, 32, and Nguyen Tuan Anh, 30, guilty of "deliberate infliction of bodily harm upon another person."

They also have to compensate the victim’s family a sum of VND350 million ($15,100).

The indictment said that on the night of September 8 last year, Anh and seven other officers were patrolling O Mon District when they saw Nguyen Chi Hieu, 30, driving in a zigzag manner.

The officers suspected he was drunk and asked him to stop. Hieu refused to take the alcohol test and took off his shirt, allegedly challenging the officers.

The patrol team took him to the police station. When Hieu refused to cooperate, Anh and Nghia began beating him up, first in the station, and later, outside. The violence only stopped when their colleagues intervened, leaving Hieu lying on the street. He lay there until the next morning when he called his friend on the phone for help. He died in the hospital three days later.

Doctors said he died because of strong blows to his belly.

Hieu’s family has said they will appeal the sentence that they feel is too lenient.

Deliberately inflicting harm on others is a crime punishable by up to life imprisonment under Vietnamese law.