At the court (Source: VNA) Accordingly, 10 faced thecharge of abusing position and power while on duty in pursuant to Article 281of the Penal Code. They included three former chairmen of the Dong Tam communalPeople’s Committee Nguyen Van Son, Le Dinh Thuan and Nguyen Van Bot who received36-month and 42-month sentences and a 18-month suspended sentence,respectively. Others were sentenced to 24 months – 78 months in jail.
On charge of showing“irresponsibility causing serious consequences”, Pham Huu Sach, former head ofMy Duc district’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Tran TrungTan, an official of the district’s Land Registration Office, were granted a24-month suspended sentence.
Dinh Van Dung, former directorof My Duc district’s Land Registration Office; and Bach Van Dong, former deputydirector of the district’s Land Registration Office, were sentenced to 36months and 30 months in prison, respectively.
According to the indictment,between 2002 and 2013, Bot, Son, Thuan, and other key officials of Dong Tamcommune illegally allocated and granted land to some local households, orlegalised land that some households occupied illegally.
The four indicted districtofficials did not fulfil their responsibility for verifying the origin of theland, resulting in the unlawful granting of land-use certificates.
Dong Tam Commune’s PeopleCommittee got approval from the People’s Committee of former Ha Tay province toallocate 5,425 sq.m of land managed by the commune People’s Committee to 49local households for housing.
Bot, as chairman of the DongTam commune People’s Committee, and Truong as official in charge of landregistration, handed over 4,095 sq.m of land to only 39 out of the 49 eligiblehouseholds.
When Son took over the postof chairman of the Dong Tam Commune in 2002, he agreed to grant the remaining1,300 sq.m of land to ten key officials of the commune, who had to pay only100,000 VND per sq.m.
Between 2011-2013, Dong TamPeople’s Committee officials also helped with the legalisation of applicationsfor land-use certificates of 12 households for total area of 1,834 sq.m whichwere allocated or illegally occupied during 2002-2003.
Truong, as the local landregistration official, gave his confirmation in the applications that the landof the households was granted before October 15, 1993 and there was no disputeconcerning the land.
Thuan, as the then Chairmanof the commune People’s Committee, approved the applications to be submitted tothe district’s administration.
Authorised district officialsapproved the applications without conducting required verification.
The violations of theofficials were detected and investigated following complaints from residents.
Dong Tam commune madeheadlines in local media for a land scandal in late March and mid-April when 38civil servants and some police personnel were held hostage by the commune’sresidents.
The residents were protestingwhat they considered was unjustified revoking of land where they’d built homesand lived for many years.
As tensions escalated inMarch, police opened an investigation against the residents for"disturbing social order."
Matters came to a head onApril 15, when police arrested four people. Local villagers retaliated bysurrounding and seizing 38 officials, including police officers.-VNA
VNA
