Man who threatened to kill Da Nang Chairman has prison sentence reduced

On the afternoon of December 7, the High People's Court in Da Nang accepted the appeal and reduced the sentence to 9 months in prison for defendant Dao Tan Cuong (49 years old, residing in Thanh Binh ward, Hai Chau district, Da Nang) for the crime of Threatening to kill.according to Article 103 of the 1999 Penal Code.

At the first instance trial in February, the People's Court of Da Nang sentenced Mr. Cuong to 18 months in prison for the above crime.

According to the indictment, suspecting that Mr. Tran Phuoc Son (Deputy Chief of the Office of the People's Committee of Da Nang City) proposed that Mr. Huynh Duc Tho sign a document to continue re-inspecting land lot L09 in the Suoi Da villa area (Son Tra peninsula) to affect the reputation of himself and his younger brother Dao Tan Bang (former Chief of the Office of the Da Nang City Party Committee), defendant Cuong sent threatening messages to Mr. Tho and Mr. Son.

On the afternoon of July 11, 2017, defendant Cuong sent the text message and then threw the SIM card into the Han River. According to the indictment, when Mr. Tho and Mr. Son received the message, they were afraid and asked the Da Nang City Military Command to arrange security forces. On August 18, 2017, Mr. Cuong was arrested by the Criminal Police Department (Ministry of Public Security).

The High Court's panel of judges determined that the Da Nang City People's Court's first-instance verdict was correct in terms of the person and the crime. However, considering that the defendant Cuong had a good character, the act of sending threatening messages only satisfied the frustrations in the relationship between the defendant and the victim, and there was no actual action, and at court the victim's legal representative also requested a reduction in the sentence, the court decided to reduce the prison term by half.