Two former provincial chairmen appear in court related to land management

According to the decision of Khanh Hoa People's Court, today, Mr. Nguyen Chien Thang (67 years old), Le Duc Vinh (57 years old) - both former Chairmen of the Provincial People's Committee were brought to trial for the crime ofViolation of regulations on land managementaccording to Clause 3, Article 229 of the Penal Code.

Mr. Nguyen Chien Thang (left) and Mr. Le Duc Vinh (right), former Chairman of Khanh Hoa Province, appeared in court.

Also brought to trial for the above crime were five other defendants, including Mr. Dao Cong Thien (former Vice Chairman of the province); Vo Tan Thai, Le Mong Diep (both former Directors of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment); Le Van De (former Director of the Department of Construction) and Tran Van Hung (former officer of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment).

17 lawyers defended the defendants. Of these, 2 defended Mr. Thang; Mr. Vinh had 4 defenders.

Due to the complicated and serious nature of the case, involving many generations of provincial leaders, the panel of judges has 5 members including 2 judges, 3 jurors and many additional judges, secretaries, jurors, as well as alternate prosecutors.

According to the indictment, during the period 2012 - 2015, former provincial leaders signed many documents that violated regulations in the allocation, lease of land, and approval of land prices for Khanh Hoa Production and Construction Company Limited (Khanh Hoa Company) to implement the Vinh Trung River and Mountain Villa project, Cuu Long Son Tu spiritual ecology, in the Chin Khuc mountain area.

A corner of Chin Khuc mountain where the enterprise implements the project.

At the Cuu Long Son Tu Spiritual Ecological Project, which covers an area of ​​over 513 hectares on Chin Khuc Mountain, Mr. Thang was accused of signing documents directing the policy and deciding to illegally allocate land to enterprises. Mr. Dao Cong Thien, Le Mong Diep, Vo Tan Thai, and Tran Van Hung advised and signed related documents. These people violated the provisions of the Land Law and related documents.

For the Vinh Trung River and Mountain Villa project on Chin Khuc Mountain, with 19 hectares of Chin Khuc Mountain, Khanh Hoa Company is also the investor. In August 2012, Mr. Le Duc Vinh, when he was Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, signed a decision allowing the enterprise to change the purpose of using 196,194 m2 from production forest land to residential land and land for public purposes to do the project.

Mr. Vinh signed decisions on land allocation that violated the law on land management, allocated land without determining the land use fee, allocated land in the field before the investor fulfilled its financial obligations; allocated land and changed the land use purpose in violation of planning and land use plans. Mr. Le Mong Diep and Mr. Le Van De also violated the law when advising the province. After that, the enterprise cut down trees, leveled, implemented the project, and destroyed Chin Khuc mountain.

By 2019, this project was stopped, the investor was forced to replant trees, and handle the cleared spaces. Khanh Hoa Company then returned 370 hectares of land to regenerate and restore the forest environment.

Regarding the violations at Chin Khuc mountain, in mid-2021, 2 former provincial Chairmen and 5 former leaders were prosecuted and temporarily detained.