Forest land dispute: 1 person dead, perpetrator receives 20 years in prison

On August 9, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Phan Dinh Quang (born 1996, residing in Tan Hop commune, Tan Ky district) for the crime of "Murder".

Defendant Phan Dinh Quang in court. Photo: Phuong Thao

According to the indictment, due to a land dispute, a conflict arose between Phan Dinh Quang's family and Phan Van Viet (born in 1983). On the morning of August 10, 2017, when Viet went to the area where Quang and his father were clearing weeds, a fight broke out. As a result, Viet died, Phan Dinh Binh - Quang's father was injured in the abdomen, and Quang was slightly injured. The investigation agency concluded that Phan Dinh Quang was the one who caused Viet's death by stabbing him multiple times and cutting the victim's leg tendons.

Before the trial on August 9, the case had been brought to trial twice but was postponed. The first time on March 15, 2018, the case had to be returned for further investigation because the panel of judges determined that the investigation agency had not clarified a number of related issues, had not conducted an investigation experiment, and had not explained the defendant's behavior towards Mr. Phan Van Viet as well as Mr. Phan Dinh Binh.

The second time on July 16, 2018, the trial was postponed again because the defendant Quang's father filed a request to change the judge assigned to preside over the trial. The reason given by Mr. Binh was that a nephew of this judge married a relative of the victim's family. Therefore, Mr. Binh believed that assigning this judge to preside over the trial would not ensure objectivity during the trial. After the judge announced the postponement of the trial, the victim's relatives booed and loudly protested because they thought that the case had been dragging on for a long time, had been postponed and the case file returned many times, but the perpetrator had not yet been punished for his actions.

The victim's parents asked the court to strictly judge the defendant's illegal behavior. Photo: Phuong Thao

At the trial on August 9, defendant Phan Dinh Quang admitted to his crime. The panel of judges assessed the nature and behavior of defendant Phan Dinh Quang as extremely hooligan, with disregard for the lives of others; in particular, Quang's act of cutting the tendons of the victim's legs was barbaric.

Considering the case comprehensively, the panel sentenced the defendant to 20 years in prison, ordered the defendant to compensate the victim's family 160.8 million VND for funeral expenses and mental damage, and provide 1.5 million VND/month for the victim's two children until they reach adulthood.

At the end of the trial, the victim's relatives expressed disagreement with the verdict, saying that the 20-year prison sentence for the defendant's actions was too light and would consider an appeal.