Man receives suspended sentence for cutting samu wood to build house

On the morning of August 19, 2021, Ky Son District People's Court opened the first instance trial of Vu Ba Gio, born in 1979, residing in Huoi Giang 3 village, Tay Son commune, for the crime of "Violating regulations on forest exploitation and protection and forest products" as prescribed in Article 232 of the Penal Code.

According to the case content, around May 2020, Vu Ba Gio entered the forest area (lot 3, compartment 1, sub-area 479) in Lu Thanh village, Tay Son commune, Ky Son district and discovered a piece of wood.sa muwas cut down earlier on the bank of Nhan stream.

However, Gio did not notify the authorities but went home to get a chainsaw to cut the log into 17 panels measuring (210 x 40 x 06cm) and then transported it back to hide to build a house.

Defendant Vu Ba Gio. Photo: Hoang Tuan

While Gio was preparing to build a house, he was discovered by the Ky Son District Forest Protection Department. The amount of wood that Vu Ba Gio sawed was determined to have a volume of 1.75 m³.

Conclusion of appraisal No. 123/CNR-VP dated April 1, 2021 of the Forest Industry Research Institute of Vietnam Forestry Science Institute concluded:The Sa mu oil tree species (Sa mu oil) belongs to group IA in“List of endangered, precious and rare forest plants and animals" issued together with Decree No. 06/2019/ND-CP dated January 22, 2019 of the Government on management of endangered, precious and rare forest plants and animals and implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

At the trial, defendant Gio admitted his guilt and asked the panel of judges to consider reducing his sentence.

Based on the developments at the trial as well as assessing the level of crime and the defendant's personal background, the panel sentenced Vu Ba Gio to 7 months in prison but suspended the sentence, with a probation period of 14 months./.