On the first day of the trial, the court spent most of the time examining the backgrounds of the accused and reading the indictment.
The court examines the backgrounds of the accused. Photo: Huyen Oanh
According to the indictment, the People’s Procuracy of Phu Yen Province prosecuted 22 defendants, who are former officials and public employees of Dong Hoa Town, for the following crimes: Violation of land management regulations; abuse of position and power while performing official duties; and negligence causing serious consequences.
Among them, Vo Ngoc Hoa and Le Tan Thao (former Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the People’s Committee of Dong Hoa Town); Nguyen Huynh Thi Dung, Le Ba Hung, Nguyen Van Tien, and Huynh Tan Phuoc (former civil servants of the Dong Hoa Town Department of Natural Resources and Environment) were indicted for “Violation of Land Management Regulations”. Meanwhile, Luu Hanh, the former vice-chairman of the People’s Committee of Dong Hoa Town, was charged with negligence causing serious consequences, and the remaining defendants were charged with “Abuse of position and power while performing official duties.”
Defendants listening to the indictment. Photo: Huyen Oanh
The indictment concluded that, from 2013 to 2019, the above-mentioned officials with positions and powers in the town’s government and specialized agencies, out of personal gain, abused their positions and powers and acted contrary to their assigned duties in resolving dossiers for households and individuals to change the purpose of land use and be granted land use right certificates. As a result, they signed 1,156 decisions allowing households and individuals to change the purpose of land use from annual and perennial crop land to residential land contrary to legal regulations. The area of land involved in these violations was 308,175.8 square meters, and the value of the land use rights, when converted into money, amounted to more than VND 432 billion. They also granted eight land use right certificates to households and individuals contrary to legal regulations, with a total area of nearly 12,000 square meters, causing a loss of nearly VND 33 billion to the State.
These violations by the defendants disrupted the land use planning and plans of Dong Hoa Town and damaged the trust of the people in the effectiveness and efficiency of the State management of land, as well as undermined the proper functioning of State agencies.
According to Judge Vo Nguyen Tung, Vice President of Phu Yen Provincial People’s Court, the trial is expected to last until September 20.
