Mr. Tran Hung continues to claim injustice, court postpones sentencing date

This afternoon (July 22), the trial of Mr. Tran Hung - former Deputy Director of the Market Management Department, former head of Group 304 of the General Department of Market Management and 35 defendants ended the debate and moved to the deliberation. The defendants were given the final say.

While all the defendants admitted their crimes, only defendant Tran Hung continued to assert that he was wrongly convicted. Mr. Hung said that he did not receive 300 million VND from broker Nguyen Duy Hai to help reduce the responsibility of Cao Thi Minh Thuan's Phu Hung Phat Company.

After the defendants had made their final statements, the panel of judges went into the deliberation room. However, about 15 minutes later, the panel of judges returned to the courtroom, and the presiding judge announced that it would take more time to review and evaluate the results of the debate as well as the evidence to convict and exonerate them up to this point.

"The panel of judges will announce the verdict at 9:00 a.m. on July 27," the presiding judge announced.

Previously, according to the original plan, the court would hold a continuous trial for 7 days starting from July 19, 2023.

Defendant Tran Hung, former Deputy Director of the Market Management Department.

At the trial on July 22, the group of lawyers defending defendant Tran Hung still argued fiercely with the prosecutors. According to the lawyer, the Procuracy only relied on the testimony of Nguyen Duy Hai (a freelance worker, prosecuted by the Procuracy for bribery brokerage for receiving 300 million from Thuan to give to Tran Hung) to charge Mr. Hung without presenting other material evidence.

Defending Mr. Hung, the lawyer continued to analyze the location data of Tran Hung's phone and Duy Hai's phone from 12:40 p.m. to before 2:00 p.m. on July 15, 2020 to confirm that the two could not have met at Tran Hung's office at the headquarters of the General Department of Market Management, in Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi to give and receive 300 million VND.

In addition, Mr. Hung's lawyer also said that the driver who took Tran Hung to work should be summoned to continue clarifying the time of brokerage and receiving bribes.

Defendant Cao Thi Minh Thuan in court.

The lawyer invited this person to attend the trial, and as long as the panel of judges agreed, the driver was willing to answer the court about what he knew and witnessed. However, this request was not approved by the panel of judges, on the grounds that what the driver knew had already been disclosed in the case file.

In response to the defense attorney for defendant Hung, the prosecutors presented a system of arguments to charge defendant Tran Hung.

According to the Prosecutor, from an external source about signs of a fake book warehouse in Hanoi, on July 8, 2020, Mr. Hung - Head of Team 304 of the General Department of Market Management wrote a note on the document directing the Hanoi Market Management Department and Market Management Team 17 to directly inspect, and then discovered that Phu Hung Phat Company was storing more than 27,000 fake books.

Three days later, Cao Thi Minh Thuan texted and called Hung asking for a lenient sentence, and asked Nguyen Duy Hai to meet and influence him further.

The prosecutor said that at first, Mr. Hung was very determined not to meet or accept to help Thuan. However, when Hai approached him to thank him, Hung changed his attitude.

Specifically, Hung influenced Le Viet Phuong to make Market Management Team 17 create conditions for Thuan to change his testimony in a direction favorable to Phu Hung Phat. And the key to this change was that Hai brokered the transfer of 300 million VND to Tran Hung right at his office in the early afternoon of July 15, 2020.

The prosecutor said that although the phone's location showed that Tran Hung's phone at the time of the bribery brokerage and bribe receiving was in Ba Dinh district and not Hung's office at the headquarters of the General Department of Market Management, in Hoan Kiem district, it did not mean that Tran Hung was right next to that phone.

With such arguments, the prosecution believes that the system of other evidence is still sufficient to prove that Tran Hung received a bribe of 300 million VND from broker Nguyen Duy Hai.

On July 21, the People's Procuracy proposed a sentence of 9-10 years in prison for Mr. Tran Hung for the crime of "Accepting bribes". In addition, the defendant Hung must also pay back 300 million VND to the budget.

Defendant Cao Thi Minh Thuan was proposed to be sentenced to 11-12 years in prison for the crime of "Producing and trading in counterfeit goods".

Defendant Le Viet Phuong (former Deputy Captain of Market Management Team No. 17) was proposed to be sentenced to 30-36 months in prison for the crime of "Abusing position and power while performing official duties".

Defendant Nguyen Duy Hai (freelance worker) was proposed a sentence of 1 year and 11 months, equal to the period of detention, and released in court for the crime of "Bribery brokerage".

English - Vien Minh

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Source: https://vtc.vn/ong-tran-hung-tiep-tuc-keu-oan-toa-doi-ngay-tuyen-an-ar807865.html