Trial of 2 subjects 'addicted' to gambling in the form of buffalo fighting

On the morning of June 26, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened an appeal trial of two defendants Nguyen Van Mau (born in 1967), residing in My Son commune (Do Luong district) and Nguyen Van Truong (residing in Nam Dan district) for the crime of Gambling.

According to the investigation agency's documents, after a period of monitoring, Anh Son District Police determined that there was a group gambling in the form of buffalo fighting. The methods and tricks of the subjects were extremely sophisticated. The subjects often chose vacant lots far from residential areas as the buffalo fighting locations to avoid detection by the police.

Defendants at the appeal hearing. Photo: Tran Vu

On August 21, 2018, when the subjects were gathering to gamble, they were arrested by the authorities. The total amount of money that the subjects used for gambling was more than 20 million VND. Of which, Truong's money was 5 million VND, Mau's was 3 million VND.

At the first instance trial held by the People's Court of Anh Son district, Nguyen Van Mau was sentenced to 6 months in prison and Nguyen Van Truong was sentenced to 8 months in prison. Disagreeing with the above sentence, both filed an appeal for a reduction in their sentence. The other two defendants in the case did not file an appeal.

At the appeal hearing, when asking for a reduced sentence, both defendants cited difficult circumstances and their families having relatives who participated in the resistance war. However, the medal documents the defendants presented at the hearing were not sufficient grounds. Therefore, the court rejected the appeal and upheld the sentence for the defendants.

It is known that both defendants have previous convictions related to gambling. Truong was once tried for gambling and theft. Mau was once administratively punished by the People's Court of Do Luong district for gambling.