Dong Tam commune leaders 'escaped' many violations in public land management

Believing that the statute of limitations for prosecution had expired, this afternoon, August 9, the court announced that it would not consider a number of violations in land management in Dong Tam.

Five hours after the prosecution's indictment, continuous debate, and deliberation through the afternoon, on the afternoon of August 9, the People's Court of My Duc district sentenced defendant Nguyen Xuan Truong, a former cadastral officer of Dong Tam commune, to 6 years and 6 months in prison for 20 years, lower than the 7-8 years in prison recommended by the prosecution.

Defendant Nguyen Tien Trien (former Party Secretary of Dong Tam commune) received a 30-month prison sentence; Le Dinh Thuan (former commune chairman) 42 months; Nguyen Van Son (former commune chairman) 36 months; Nguyen Van Bot (former commune chairman) 18 months suspended sentence.

Assessed to have a lower role, Mr. Nguyen Van Minh (former commune police chief) was sentenced by the People's Court to 24 months; Le Van Duc (former deputy secretary of the commune Party Committee) to 30 months; Bui Van Dung (former head of the commune finance department) to 30 months; Bui Van Hong (former commune team leader) to 30 months, and Nguyen Van Khang (former accountant) to 24 months.

All 10 people were convicted of Abusing their positions and powers while performing official duties.

Four former officials of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of My Duc district were convicted of the crime of Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences. Among them, Mr. Pham Huu Sach (former head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of My Duc district) was sentenced to 24 months in prison, suspended; Dinh Van Dung (former deputy director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and Director of the Land Registration Office) was sentenced to 36 months in prison; Bach Van Dong (former deputy director of the Land Registration Office) was sentenced to 30 months in prison; and Tran Trung Tan (contract officer of the Land Registration Office) was sentenced to 24 months in prison, suspended.

Defendants at trial. Photo: Pham Du.

The verdict stated that the defendants had full civil capacity and knew the consequences but still intentionally let them happen. The four district officials were negligent and irresponsible. The defendants’ actions weakened the state agency and reduced its prestige.

Except for defendant Truong, the others have returned the land and confessed honestly, so their sentences should be reduced. Defendant Truong played the main role and should receive the highest penalty. Defendants Trien, Son, and Thuan played an active role.

Regarding the group of crimes of irresponsibility, the court held that the four officers of the district's Department of Natural Resources and Environment were "under great pressure" when performing their duties of issuing red books, while the documents were forged by the cadastral officer Truong, with 20 years of experience, in a sophisticated manner, making them difficult to detect. Therefore, the court held that the four defendants should be considered below the lowest level of the penalty range, and no additional penalties should be applied. The civil part will be separated upon request.

In addition to the acts on trial today, the defendants also committed a number of other acts such as wrongfully assigning authority and selling 1,000 m²; land allocation to the wrong subjects for 29 households; wrong bidding... Because the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution has expired, the court will not consider it.

Of the 14 defendants, 10 were released on bail. Photo: Pham Du

According to the indictment of the People's Procuracy, at the end of 1996, the People's Committee of the former Ha Tay province issued a decision to reclaim an area of ​​5,400 m2 of land managed by Dong Tam commune, and assigned it to 49 households to build houses under the land allocation for population dispersal. The commune chairman at that time, Mr. Nguyen Van Bot, and cadastral officer Truong, organized the allocation of land to 39/49 households with an area of ​​nearly 4,100 m2.². About 1,300 m left², Dong Tam Commune People's Committee did not hand over the remaining 10 households on the list submitted to the province for approval.

When he became chairman to replace Mr. Bot, Mr. Son, together with Mr. Trien and Mr. Truong, proposed to transfer these 10 plots of land to 10 key officials of the commune who had worked for many years. Each house had 130 square meters of land, and the price was 100,000 VND/square meter. Among them were the families of Mr. Bot, Son, Truong, Trien and Le Dinh Thuan (later chairman of the commune). However, the "commune officials" all let their relatives stand in their names.

During two days of interrogation, a group of officials from the district's Department of Natural Resources and Environment confessed that they had issued red books against regulations because Dong Tam commune officials had "magically" manipulated the documents.

The group of commune officials explained that the 10 plots of land were not distributed to the people because they were located in a cemetery area and no one wanted them. Because they had been "unsold" for a long time, they had to distribute them to each other, but in reality, they had not been lived in or used.

This morning, during the debate, former chairman Le Dinh Thuan said that the sentence proposed by the People's Procuracy was too harsh, because he was not allowed to discuss or consult, but was "completely passive in his criminal behavior". Since his violations were discovered, he has been disciplined and had all his benefits cut off, which is very disadvantageous.

He explained that he made the mistake due to objective reasons, because the historical context of Dong Tam's land was still messy and the management work was not consistent. "After the inspection and examination, I found the mistake, so I corrected it myself and returned the land. I did not take advantage of a single penny from the people," he said.

When given the final say, the defendants all wanted their sentences to be reduced./.

According to VNE