Wanting to buy back land, burned down neighbor's forest, destroying 57 hectares, causing billions in damage

On April 20, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Ha Truc (born 1960), residing in Khanh Son commune, Nam Dan district, for the crime of "Forest destruction”.

According to the indictment, on the evening of June 28, 2019, Ha Truc was sleeping when he had the idea of ​​burning down Khe Dot forest (in hamlet 2, Khanh Son commune) to buy land and plant other trees. Truc took 4 incense sticks from the altar, a matchbox, a lighter, then went to the forest area of ​​2 neighboring families, lit it on fire, and stuck it in a clump of dry grass. After finishing, Truc went home.

Defendant Ha Truc at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

At 10 p.m. the same day, the fire broke out and spread to many neighboring forest areas. Due to strong winds, the fire spread in many directions, burning down the forest area of ​​21 households. At around 2 a.m. on June 30, the fire was contained and extinguished. On July 13, 2019, Truc surrendered to the police.

The investigation agency determined that the total area of ​​forest and forest land burned was nearly 57 hectares. Of which, special-use forest was more than 17 hectares (managed by the Nam Dan Special-Use Forest Management Board), and production forest was more than 39 hectares.
The fire has beenburn downMore than 42 thousand trees, nearly 1,000 new trees were cut down after the fire, nearly 42 thousand tea trees... The total value of forest products and assets damaged by the forest fire was more than 2.2 billion VND.
At the first instance trial, Ha Truc was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison for "Forest Destruction" and ordered to compensate the victims.
The defendant then appealed for a reduction in sentence. Some victims appealed, claiming that their burned forest area was larger than the number considered; requested a reassessment of assets; some victims also claimed that the investigation agency overlooked the crime of property destruction against defendant Truc.
At the appeal hearing, both sides maintained the content of the appeal.
The panel of judges determined that the nature of the case was particularly serious. The defendant’s criminal acts were dangerous to society, causing great damage to other people’s property and harming the sustainability and stability of the ecological environment. The defendant was a person with full capacity for action and was able to realize that his actions were against the law, so he needed to be severely punished.
Considering that the appeal of the defendant and some victims was baseless, the appellate court rejected the appeal of the defendant Ha Truc and the victims. Sentenced Ha Truc to 7 years and 6 months for the crime of Forest Destruction. The defendant was ordered to compensate the victims more than 2.2 billion (minus 250 million VND already compensated).