Defendant Nguyen Huu Linh was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

At 11:25 a.m. on August 23, the People's Court of District 4, Ho Chi Minh City sentenced defendant Nguyen Huu Linh, former deputy head of the People's Procuracy of Da Nang City, to one year and six months in prison for molesting a person under 16 years old.

Defendant Nguyen Huu Linh in court. Photo: Hoang Giang

Hearing the court sentence him to 18 months in prison, defendant Nguyen Huu Linh was stunned and had to sit back in the defendant's chair even though he had stood up and was preparing to leave the courtroom.

Previously, at the trial on June 25, the People's Court of District 4, chaired by Judge Nguyen Hai Nam (also the deputy chief judge of this court), decided to return the case file for further investigation to clarify what objective action Mr. Linh's left hand performed between 9:10 p.m. and 6 p.m. (according to the camera system time).

Later, the results of the additional investigation determined that because the image was out of the camera's view, there was not enough basis to conclude whether during this time, the defendant Linh's left hand touched the front part of the child's body or not.

The jury is announcing the verdict. Photo: Hoang Giang

This former deputy director was prosecuted under Clause 1, Article 146 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017) with a penalty of six months to three years in prison.

According to the indictment, Mr. Linh hugged and kissed a girl in the elevator of the Galaxy apartment building (District 4, Ho Chi Minh City) three times.

The former deputy director admitted that his actions of hugging and kissing a girl in the elevator a total of three times were wrong, but said that his actions did not constitute a crime as prosecuted.