Trial for exam cheating case postponed due to absence of witness.
Due to the absence of too many witnesses, the preliminary trial of the exam cheating case had to be postponed and will be reopened on October 14-16 at the People's Court of Ha Giang province.
According to Ms. Vuong Thi Thu Ha, Deputy Chief Judge of the People's Court of Ha Giang province and presiding judge of the trial, after deliberation, the panel of judges decided to postpone the trial due to the absence of too many witnesses, as this absence affected the trial process.
The first-instance trial will resume on October 14-16 at the People's Court of Ha Giang Province.
On September 18th, the People's Court of Ha Giang province began the trial of a case involving the abuse of power and authority to inflate scores for numerous candidates in the 2018 National High School Examination in Ha Giang.
The trial is expected to last two days.
This exam cheating case involves five defendants, including two defendants, Nguyen Thanh Hoai and Vu Trong Luong (former Head and Deputy Head of the Examination and Quality Management Department, Ha Giang Provincial Department of Education and Training), who are being tried for "abusing their position and authority while performing official duties" under Article 356 of the 2015 Penal Code.
Defendant Trieu Thi Chinh (former Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ha Giang province) is being tried for the crime of "abusing her position and authority to influence others for personal gain" under Article 358 of the 2015 Penal Code.
The two defendants, Pham Van Khuong (former Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ha Giang province) and Le Thi Dung (former Deputy Team Leader of the Education Team, Internal Political Security Department, Ha Giang Provincial Police), were tried for the crime of "abusing influence over persons holding positions of power to gain personal benefit" under Article 366 of the 2015 Penal Code.
A view of the courtroom. (Photo: Nguyen Quyet Chien/VNA)
The judging panel consisted of Judge Vuong Thi Thu Ha, presiding judge; Judge Mai Van Hung; and three people's assessors: Mr. Van Minh Tien, Ms. Tran Thi Ngoan, and Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong.
The two prosecutors from the People's Procuracy of Ha Giang province who held the power of prosecution and supervised the trial at the hearing were Mr. Tran Quoc Hung and Ms. Vu Thi Thanh Nga.
Prior to the trial, the People's Court of Ha Giang province sent summonses to 177 people with relevant rights and obligations (including parents whose children had their scores artificially increased) and witnesses (including former and current leaders of the Department of Education and Training of Ha Giang province).
Representing the Ha Giang Department of Education and Training was Mr. Lam The Hung, Deputy Director of the Department. Mr. Tran Duc Quy, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Giang province, and Mr. Vu Van Su, former Director of the Ha Giang Department of Education and Training (now retired), appeared in court as witnesses.
The three defense lawyers, Hoang Van Huong, Dinh Viet Thanh, and Hoang Van Doan, all defended the defendant Trieu Thi Chinh (former Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ha Giang province).
After the presiding judge, Ms. Vuong Thi Thu Ha, announced the decision to bring the case to trial, the panel of judges proceeded to verify the identities of the defendants, witnesses, and those with related rights and obligations.
Although the trial panel summoned 177 witnesses and individuals with rights and obligations related to the trial, 12 summonses were returned, so only 165 people received them.
On the morning of September 18th, only about one-third of those summoned were present in court. The rest were absent without explanation or had submitted requests for absence.
From the perspective of the prosecuting authorities, according to the representative of the People's Procuracy of Ha Giang province, after reviewing the data, the absence of witnesses would affect the rights of many defendants, so the Procuracy requested a postponement of the trial.
In addition, regarding the decision to bring the case to trial, the Prosecutor's Office requested the summoning of Ms. Vu Thi Kim Chung, Principal of Ha Giang Provincial Specialized High School, and Ms. Tong Thi Phuong (the aunt of the defendant Vu Trong Luong).
After deliberation by the panel of judges, the presiding judge announced the decision to postpone the trial, citing the reason that although witnesses had been duly summoned, many were absent, both with and without justification. This could affect the outcome of the trial.
