(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of September 30, 2015, at the Cultural House of Tuong Duong district, the Provincial People's Court held a mobile trial for the defendant Vi Van Hai (also known as Vi Van Man) for the crime of "murder".
From early morning, at the trial area, there were many officials and people of Tuong Duong district and reporters from news agencies coming to report on the trial. At 7:30 am, defendant Vi Van Hai was brought to the courtroom. At exactly 8 am, the Trial Council opened the trial.
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From early morning, many people came to the Cultural Center of Tuong Duong district to examine the trial of the massacre of 4 victims in Phong village (Tam Hop, Tuong Duong). |
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| The trial attracted many reporters from local and national newspapers to cover the news. |
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| Police escorted the defendant to the courthouse. |
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| Many local people came to watch the trial. |
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| Defendant Vi Van Hai sits in the dock during the trial. |
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| Trial Council of the massacre in Phong village (Tam Hop, Tuong Duong) |
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| The representative of the Procuracy read the indictment against the defendant Vi Van Hai related to the massacre of 4 people in Phong village. |
At the trial, the representative of the Provincial People's Procuracy read the indictment No. 99/VKS-P2, clearly stating the details and investigation evidence of the massacre in Phong village, Tam Hop commune, Tuong Duong district caused by Vi Van Hai against Ms. Vieng Thi Duong (born in 1952), Mr. Lo Van Tho (born in 1987, son of Ms. Vieng), Ms. Le Thi Yen (born in 1989, wife of Mr. Tho), and Lo Viet Chung (born in August 2014, son of Mr. Tho and Ms. Yen).
Vi Van Hai and the victim Lo Van Tho are ethnic minorities, living in the same village and working together on the fields and raising livestock in the C5 area to support their families. On July 2, 2015, just because of a small conflict, it suddenly arose in daily life between Vi Van Hai and Lo Van Tho. Tho suspected that Vi Van Hai had an affair with his wife, leading to an argument. Tho used his bare hands to hit Vi Van Hai but missed. Vi Van Hai then took Tho's knife and slashed Tho many times until he died. Le Thi Yen - Tho's wife saw the incident so she carried Chung and ran away. Vi Van Hai chased Yen to the bank of the stream and saw Vieng Thi Duong (Tho's mother) bathing in the stream. Vi Van Hai used a knife to cut Duong's throat until she died, then continued to chase Yen and Chung. After catching up, Hai used a knife to slash Yen many times and then murdered both Yen and Chung. After committing the crime, Vi Van Hai returned to Tho's shack, burned it, threw away the knife and went home.
From the details and evidence of the investigation process, the Provincial People's Procuracy determined that the actions of the accused Vi Van Hai constituted the crime of "murder" in accordance with points a, c, n, clause 1, Article 93 of the Penal Code. Therefore, it decided to prosecute the accused Vi Van Hai before the Provincial People's Court for trial.
After the representative of the People's Procuracy read the indictment, the presiding judge moved on to the questioning of the defendant Vi Van Hai, the witness, and the representative of the victim. When asked, Vi Van Hai admitted to the contents of the indictment, and recounted the entire course of events. From the initial conflicts to the murder. Vi Van Hai said that because he was "so angry with Tho", he committed the murder. The presiding judge specifically stated each main detail stated in the indictment to ask Vi Van Hai to answer. Vi Van Hai admitted to all the details asked, and stated that he committed the murder in just a short period of time...
The judge especially emphasized the act of killing Lo Viet Chung (born in August 2014, the son of Mr. Tho and Ms. Yen) saying: "Lo Viet Chung was less than a year old at that time, could not recognize anything, and could not speak, so why did you kill him?" Vi Van Hai only repeated the answer: "Because I was so angry".
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| Witnesses recounted several details related to the massacre. |
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| The victims of the massacre attended the trial. |
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| Panoramic view of the hall during the trial in Phong village. |
Holding the right to prosecute at the trial, the representative of the People's Procuracy emphasized Vi Van Hai's hooliganism, killing many people, including children. Therefore, although during the process of being discovered and arrested, Vi Van Hai honestly confessed to all his crimes, the crimes he committed were unforgivable. The representative of the People's Procuracy proposed that the Trial Panel apply Article 93 of the Penal Code, which stipulates: "1. Anyone who commits murder in one of the following cases shall be sentenced to imprisonment from twelve to twenty years, life imprisonment or death: a, Murder of many people; c, Murder of children; n, Hooliganism...." and sentenced Vi Van Hai to death.
Moving on to the debate, present at the trial, Defense Attorney Phan Thi Su made a recommendation that Vi Van Hai was an ethnic minority, uneducated, and ignorant; had no previous criminal record; and had a physical altercation with the victim Lo Van Tho before committing the murder, so that the Trial Panel could consider it. However, Attorney Phan Thi Su also agreed that because the murder was too cruel, the People's Procuracy's conviction of Vi Van Hai was justified.
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| Lawyer Phan Thi Su participated in defending defendant Vi Van Hai. |
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| Lawyer Duong Huu Dung requested the defendant to compensate the victim. |
Present at the trial, the victim's lawyer, Mr. Duong Huu Dung, also requested the Trial Council to apply the sentence as proposed by the Provincial People's Procuracy; at the same time, the Trial Council ordered the defendant Vi Van Hai to pay for funeral expenses and mental damage to life of 105,000,000 VND; and at the same time, provide child support for Le Thi Tam Nhu (daughter of Ms. Le Thi Yen, currently living with her grandfather, Mr. Le Van Toan) until she is 18 years old.
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| Defendant Vi Van Hai admitted his crimes and the proposed sentence of the Provincial People's Procuracy. |
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| Judge Tran Ngoc Son sentenced defendant Vi Van Hai to death. |
In response to the opinions of the parties involved, the Trial Panel allowed Vi Van Hai to have the final say. Vi Van Hai found that the sentence imposed was appropriate and agreed to compensate the victims' relatives.
After the trial panel deliberated, the presiding judge, Judge Tran Ngoc Son, sentenced Vi Van Hai to death. Public opinion highly agreed with the appropriate sentence for the murderer who committed the murder just because of a small conflict...
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| Police force escorted Vi Van Hai back to detention. |
Nhat Lan - Ho Phuong
