07:10, 09/10/2023
“ I am very remorseful and hope the Trial Council will reduce the sentence for me and the other 8 defendants. Everyone thought that the coffee batch was still under my management, so they participated in illegally detaining people and resisting law enforcement officers” – those were the final regretful and remorseful words of defendant Nguyen Thanh Giang at the first instance trial held at the end of September.
Is it due to “lack of legal knowledge”?
Land plot No. 87, map sheet No. 3 in Hoa Bac village, Hoa Dong commune (Krong Pac district) was contracted by Thang Loi Coffee Joint Stock Company (abbreviated as Thang Loi Company) to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Giang's household since 2011. The form of contract is that Mr. Giang's household invests, takes care of, and protects; and at the same time, submits products to the company according to the agreed rate. However, in the 2018-2019 crop year, Giang did not submit products according to the contract, so the company sued him. After two trials, the civil appeal judgment on January 21, 2020 of the Provincial People's Court ordered Mr. Giang to pay Thang Loi Company 5,198 kg of fresh coffee cherries.
Because Mr. Giang did not voluntarily fulfill his obligations as a judgment debtor, on March 16, 2022, the Civil Judgment Enforcement Office of Krong Pac district proceeded to seize and handle the property, the above orchard, to enforce the civil judgment. On July 7, 2022, the Civil Judgment Enforcement Office of the district handed over the orchard to Thang Loi Company for full ownership in accordance with the law, and at the same time notified Mr. Nguyen Thanh Giang.
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| Defendant Nguyen Thanh Giang answered questions from the Trial Panel at the first instance trial. |
Responding to the question of the Trial Council in the case of "illegal arrest and detention and resisting people on duty", defendant Nguyen Thanh Giang said that due to lack of legal knowledge, his family still carried out activities to take care of the coffee garden such as: spraying pesticides, breaking buds, pruning branches... on the area that the District Civil Judgment Enforcement Office had handed over to Thang Loi Company. At about 5:00 a.m. on November 7, 2022, upon hearing that the company was cutting down the garden, the defendant and his wife went to the scene, called a number of people to come, and shouted, cursed, prevented and chased those who were cutting down the trees.
According to the opinion of the Procuracy holding the right to prosecute in court, Mr. Giang knew clearly about the organization of the execution of the judgment to hand over the orchard to Thang Loi Company but did not do so. Before enforcing the civil judgment, the competent authorities of the district worked with Mr. Giang many times and explained, mobilized, and disseminated all relevant legal regulations. Therefore, Mr. Giang cannot claim that his family, due to lack of legal knowledge, assumed that they still had the right to cultivate this orchard when the Civil Judgment Execution Office had given full ownership to Thang Loi Company.
Illegal acts
According to the investigation results of the authorities, at the time of the incident, there were about 300 people gathered in the garden. Many subjects, including Le Thi Lua and Duong Thi Thuy, shouted, cursed and arrested and tied up Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong and Nguyen Xuan Truong (who were hired by the company to cut the tree). At this time, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Huy (a police officer of Krong Pac district assigned to work at the scene) approached, claiming to be a police officer and asked the subjects not to arrest or detain people illegally, but Mr. Giang continued to point at Mr. Huy and said "this guy ordered the tree cutting". Hearing that, Nguyen Thi Thanh Phong and the subjects standing nearby arrested and tied up Mr. Huy and searched his pocket to take out a police card of Mr. Huy. During the detention, Lua and the subjects forced the three people mentioned above to write a statement. Some subjects beat and assaulted Mr. Cuong, Mr. Truong and Mr. Huy.
At around 8:30 a.m. on the day of the incident, the Mobile Police and Provincial Police arrived to coordinate the rescue of the detainees. Despite clearly hearing the authorities' propaganda and requests for the crowd to disperse, the subjects still did not comply. Lụa stood on tree sections, blocking the road, shouting in opposition, and using her phone to broadcast live on social media. Many subjects dragged tree sections and motorbikes into the middle of the road, shouting, blocking the road, and pushing and shoving police officers and soldiers, not allowing them to enter the area where the illegally detained people were.
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| Defendant Le Thi Lua was prosecuted for both illegal detention and resisting officers on duty. |
During the interrogation at the trial, many defendants said they could not remember their specific words and actions, and did not admit to the act of illegally detaining people. However, when the presiding judge announced the statements of the defendants, victims, witnesses, etc., along with the conclusions of the audio and video examinations of the incident, the defendants admitted their actions and expressed remorse and repentance. Regarding defendant Giang, the presiding judge analyzed that the words, shouts, and incitements such as: "hold back", "block them all", "kill them all"... even in a state of anger and not directly implemented were still the causes that influenced and empowered the subjects and other defendants to commit illegal acts.
At the end of the trial, all 9 defendants involved in the case received sentences for their actions. Among them, there were defendants who participated in the arrest and then left with the spontaneous desire to put pressure on Thang Loi Company and the local government, there were defendants over 60 years old, there were defendants who, because they listened to other subjects, stood in a line to prevent the authorities from performing their duties... The defendants' actions violated the inviolable rights to the body and freedom of others, obstructed the normal public service of the State, and caused insecurity and disorder in the locality. The most regrettable case was the case of the defendants Giang and Thuy, both of whom received prison sentences while the two eldest children were in college and the youngest was only in 4th grade.
Dinh Nga
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