Forest land dispute: 1 dead, perpetrator receives 20-year prison sentence.
(Baonghean.vn) - Due to a land dispute between two families, two children have suffered tragic consequences: one died, and the other went to prison. This heartbreaking incident has only intensified the conflict.
On August 9th, the People's Court of Nghe An province held a first-instance criminal trial to hear the case against defendant Phan Dinh Quang (born in 1996, residing in Tan Hop commune, Tan Ky district) for the crime of "murder".
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| Defendant Phan Đình Quảng in court. Photo: Phương Thảo |
According to the indictment, a land dispute led to a conflict between the family of Phan Đình Quảng and Phan Văn Việt (born in 1983). On the morning of August 10, 2017, when Việt arrived at the area where Quảng and his father were clearing weeds in their field, a fight broke out. As a result, Việt died, Phan Đình Bình – Quảng's father – was injured in the abdomen, and Quảng himself sustained minor injuries. The investigating agency concluded that Phan Đình Quảng was responsible for Việt's death by stabbing him multiple times and cutting the tendons in his leg.
Prior to the trial on August 9th, the case had been brought to trial twice but both times were postponed. The first time was on March 15, 2018, when the case was returned for further investigation because the panel of judges determined that the investigating agency had not clarified several related issues, had not conducted an investigative experiment, and had not explained the defendant's actions towards Mr. Phan Van Viet and Mr. Phan Dinh Binh.
On July 16, 2018, the trial was again postponed because the defendant Quang's father submitted a request to change the judge assigned to preside over the trial. Mr. Binh's reason was that a nephew of the judge was married to a relative of the victim's family. Therefore, Mr. Binh argued that assigning this judge to preside over the trial would not guarantee objectivity. After the judge announced the postponement, the victim's relatives shouted and protested loudly, arguing that the case had dragged on for too long, with numerous postponements and file returns, yet the perpetrator had still not been brought to justice.
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| The victim's parents requested that the court severely punish the defendant for his unlawful actions. Photo: Phuong Thao |
At the trial on August 9th, defendant Phan Dinh Quang admitted to the crime. The panel of judges assessed the nature and actions of defendant Phan Dinh Quang as extremely brutal, showing disregard for human life; in particular, Quang's act of cutting the victim's leg tendons was barbaric.
After considering all aspects of the case, the court sentenced the defendant to 20 years in prison, ordered him to compensate the victim's family 160.8 million VND for funeral expenses and emotional distress, and provide monthly support of 1.5 million VND to each of the victim's two children until they reach adulthood.
At the end of the trial, the victim's relatives expressed their disagreement with the verdict, stating that the 20-year prison sentence for the defendant's actions was too lenient and that they would consider appealing.