On October 22, the People's Court of Thua Thien Hue province opened the first instance trial of nine defendants in the case of illegal timber trading and transportation related to logging in Bach Ma National Park.
The defendants include: Tran Viet The Son (born in 1995, residing in Huong Xuan commune, Nam Dong district, at the time of the crime was an officer of the Nam Dong district Forest Protection Department), Le Huu Thien (born in 1988, residing in An Cuu ward, Hue city, working as a carpenter), Tran Van Lanh (born in 1988, residing in Thuong Quang commune, Nam Dong district, self-employed).
Tran Van Dong (born in 1995) and Tran Dinh Vi (born in 1983) are both farmers in Thuong Long commune, Nam Dong district; Do Ngoc Cuong (born in 1992), Dang Phuong Nam (born in 1999), Nguyen Van Lam (born in 1994), Nguyen Quoc Ha (born in 1993), are all freelance workers, residing in Huong Xuan commune.
Defendant Tran Viet The Son (center) at the first instance trial. (Photo: LC)
According to the indictment, from December 8 to December 14, 2023, Thien contacted Son to buy Kien Kien wood. During this time, Son bought 2,580m³ of wood from Vi and Dong and 1,870m³ from Lam to resell to Thien.
Son hired Cuong, Nam, Ha and Lanh to transport wood to Thien's house at 09/02/27 Ngu Binh (Hue City). The authorities discovered and temporarily detained the wood and related vehicles. Son and Cuong attached two fake license plates to the car to serve the illegal transportation of forest products.
Investigation results showed that Son, Cuong and Nam transported and sold a total of 4,450m³ of Phu Quoc ironwood; Ha and Lam participated in transporting 3,4192m³; Lanh participated in selling 1,870m³; Vi and Dong illegally exploited a 4.37m³ ironwood tree in Bach Ma National Park.
Le Huu Thien, although knowing full well that the origin of the wood was illegal, still bought 4,450m³ to store for resale.
Notably, on April 6, 2022, Son was prosecuted by the Investigation Police Agency of Nam Dong District Police for intentionally causing injury. However, on September 6, 2022, this unit issued a decision to suspend the case, the reason being that the victim withdrew the complaint.
After deliberation, the panel sentenced defendant Tran Viet The Son to 2 years and 6 months in prison and 80 million VND; Do Ngoc Cuong to 2 years and 3 months in prison and 50 million VND for the crimes of "Violating regulations on forest exploitation and protection and forest products" and "Using fake documents of agencies".
The court sentenced defendant Dang Phuong Nam to 1 year and 3 years in prison, Tran Van Dong to 2 years in prison, Tran Dinh Vi to 2 years and 3 months in prison, and Nguyen Van Lam to 10 months and 24 days in prison for the crime of "Violating regulations on forest exploitation and protection and forest products"; fined Le Huu Thien 350 million VND, Nguyen Quoc Ha 80 million VND, and Tran Van Lanh 60 million VND for the crime of "Violating regulations on forest exploitation and protection and forest products".
As for Nguyen Van Lam, because the prison sentence was equal to the time of detention, Lam was released right at the trial.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/buon-go-lau-trong-vuon-quoc-gia-can-bo-kiem-lam-o-hue-linh-an-ar903243.html
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