Prison sentence for man who caused chaos in court in Nghe An

Nghe An: Prosecution of man causing chaos at provincial court headquarters

(Baonghean.vn) - Angry because the judge postponed the trial, Mr. Ca shouted, cursed loudly, then grabbed the female court officer by the collar and slapped her in the face.

Defendant Ca at the trial. Photo: Kim Chi

According to the indictment, on the morning of October 19, 2018, Ngo Tri Ca, his brother Ngo Tri Van (born in 1962) and a number of others were summoned by the People's Court of Nghe An province to the administrative lawsuit trial as plaintiffs.

Due to the absence of the defendant, lawyer and witnesses, the presiding judge announced the adjournment of the trial. Believing that the court clerk knew in advance that the litigants would not show up and the trial would be adjourned, but still summoned him to make things difficult, Mr. Ca cursed and caused a commotion, forcing some nearby court officials to stop working.

Seeing that, court officer Nguyen Van Yen came and asked Mr. Ca not to make noise, but he grabbed his collar and jerked him.

At that time, court officer Nguyen Thi Tra Giang used her phone to record this offensive behavior, but Mr. Ca came and slapped her in the face, causing her glasses to fly off and her frame to break.

The incident was only resolved when the police arrived. Afterwards, Mr. Ca was prosecuted by Vinh City Police for “disturbing public order”.

Appearing in court today, defendant Ca admitted to having committed illegal acts in a fit of anger and lack of self-control, but said that his criminal prosecution for these acts was "too harsh."

The judge assessed that the defendant's actions were contemptuous of the law, insulting the honor and body of court officials, so he must be severely punished. The panel sentenced defendant Ca to 6 months in prison and ordered him to pay 1.2 million VND in compensation to the victim Giang.