Defendants at the appeal trial (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The Hanoi-based High-level People’s Court opened an appeal trial on May 4 for a case of acquiring State-owned land illegally in the central city that involved two former top leaders of Da Nang and real estate mogul Phan Van Anh Vu.
The trial is expected to take place from six to eight days. The first-instance on the case was held from January 2-13 this year. Of the 21 convicts, 20 filed appeals.
Tran Van Minh, chairman of the city’s People’s Committee for the 2006 – 2011 term, appealed against his combined sentence of 17 years on the charges of breaching regulations on managing and using State assets that caused losses and wastefulness, and violations of land management regulations. Minh said he was only following the city’s policies.
In the appeal trial, Minh asked the jury to summon a representative of the Ministry of Public Security to determine the legality of the issuance of Dispatch No.203 which requested Minh to allow the ministry’s Bac Nam 79 Construction Company to purchase land. He also asked the jury to summon Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee Huynh Duc Tho to clarify further the change of land-use purposes for several land lots related to the case.
Former chairman of the city’s People’s Committee Van Huu Chien, 66, asked the court to re-consider the punishment and decision on civilian liability. He was given a combined sentence of 12 years in prison on the same charges as Minh.
Phan Van Anh Vu appealed against the first-instance sentence, under which he has to serve 30 years in prison also on the charges of breaching regulations on managing and using State assets that caused losses and wastefulness, and violations of land management regulations.
The other defendants argued that they only followed instructions of their superiors and asked for reduced sentences.
According to the verdict at the first-instance trial, Minh and Chien were tasked with managing State’s assets and public land in the city during their time in office between 2006 and 2014.
The two repeatedly signed orders to illegally transfer land use rights over to Vu at much lower prices than those regulated by the Da Nang People’s Committee.
At the time of the first-instance trial, Vu was already serving a sentence of nine years after a Hanoi court found him guilty of deliberately disclosing state secrets last year./.
VNA
