Two officials who wrongly accused Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chan were sentenced to prison.

On the morning of January 23, the Trial Council of the People's Court of Bac Giang province sentenced two defendants, Dang The Vinh (former Deputy Head of Department 10, Bac Giang Provincial People's Procuracy) to 8 months in prison and defendant Tran Nhat Luat (former Deputy Head of Viet Yen District Police, Bac Giang Province) to 12 months in prison.

Regarding the wrongful conviction of Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chan, which caused him to be wrongly imprisoned for more than 10 years, after more than two days of first-instance trial, the Trial Panel of the People's Court of Bac Giang province emphasized that this was a crime of "Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences" and not the crime of "Distorting case records" as in the indictment announced by the People's Procuracy of Bac Giang province on the first day of trial.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chan (sitting in the middle) attended the public apology. Photo: VNA

Mr. Ngo Quang Dung, Chairman of the trial, on behalf of the Trial Council of the People's Court of Bac Giang province, stated that during the investigation and trial of the murder case that occurred in Me village, Nghia Trung commune, Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province in 2003, Mr. Luat was the person primarily responsible for investigating Mr. Chan.

Although Mr. Le Van Dung and Mr. Tran Nhat Luat did not admit that they were informed by the appraisal agency that the footprints at the scene could be traced individually; but according to the testimony of the officers and leaders of the Criminal Techniques Department, Bac Giang Provincial Police, the appraisal results were notified to the criminal investigation agency. On the other hand, when the appraisal agency informed (orally) the criminal investigation officer that Mr. Chan's footprints did not match the footprints collected at the scene, Mr. Tran Nhat Luat did not request an appraisal and did not fulfill his duties and responsibilities in collecting evidence to exonerate and convict.

Mr. Dang The Vinh intentionally did not include in the file two interrogation transcripts of Mr. Chan, in which Mr. Chan claimed to be innocent and accused the investigators of physically abusing him and forcing him to confess. In this case, the defendants did not perform their duties well, but the defendants did not have any conflicts with Mr. Chan, and had no motive or purpose to wrongfully convict Mr. Chan, so there is no basis to determine that the defendants committed the act of "Intentionally falsifying the case file".

On behalf of the Trial Panel, Judge Ngo Quang Dung stated that the defendants' criminal acts were dangerous to society, infringed upon the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, caused bad public opinion, and negatively affected the reputation of criminal prosecution agencies.

This behavior also affected the study of the case file by the judge, the Trial Panel and the comprehensive and objective consideration by the Trial Panel, leading to Mr. Chan being wrongly convicted, which is considered to be an especially serious consequence. Therefore, the two defendants, in which the role of defendant Tran Nhat Luat was more dangerous, must be sentenced to 12 months in prison; defendant Dang The Vinh must be sentenced to 8 months in prison.

According to VNA