Subject Nguyen Mau Chien in a trial session

Earlier, during a trial at the People's Court of Ha Dong District on March 20, 2018, Nguyen Mau Chien was sentenced to 13 months in prison and an additional penalty of VND 10 million for transporting and storing prohibited goods.

Speaking after the trial, Ms. Bui Thi Ha - Director of ENV Policy and Law Department shared: “ENV hoped that a proper judgment would be given in the trial, not only punishing the offender. crime but also contribute to deterrence and crime prevention on wildlife. But very disappointingly, the 13-month prison sentence set out today did not reflect the seriousness of the case as well as the offenders. "

In ENV's opinion, the above penalty is too light, incompatible with the offense of defendant Nguyen Mau Chien, it is necessary to appeal the penalty for aggravating the following reasons:

Firstly, ENV believes that the trial panel's decision to declare accused Nguyen Mau Chien was a crime despite the fact that Nguyen Mau Chien was the one who played the main role, dragging his accomplices and commanding the whole The process of committing crimes and committing two criminal acts are "transportation of prohibited goods" and "storing of banned goods" are not reasonable. The offense committed by defendant Nguyen Mau Chien has met to constitute two independent crimes prescribed in Article 155 of the 1999 Penal Code and is not related to each other (transportation is not a condition for execution or consequence. inevitable of hoarding behavior and vice versa). Therefore, the trial panel sentenced Nguyen Mau Chien to a crime and decided the punishment with aggravating circumstances "committing multiple crimes" is unreasonable in theory and practice. The defendant apparently committed two crimes independently and needs to determine a separate penalty for each of these crimes before summing them up.

Secondly, the fact that the Panel applied the extenuating circumstances as prescribed in point (p) Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article 46 with the following details: "sincerely declare", "difficult family circumstances", "opposites" statues with good personal identities, never having a criminal record ”are not consistent with reality. Specifically, in two public hearings for the case on November 27, 2017 and March 20, 2018, the defendant answered in a roundabout, dishonestly a number of questions of the Panel and many times judged by the Judge. ask for an honest answer. In addition, the subject has a farm of 11 tigers in Thanh Hoa (declared for non-commercial activities) and stockpiling a large amount of prohibited goods with particularly great value for the purpose. "Use" also shows that the defendant's family does not face financial difficulties. Not only that, Nguyen Mau Chien is also not considered to have good personalities. Subjects who have ever violated the law on wildlife protection and were administratively sanctioned by the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province for acts of illegally capturing 10 tigers under the Decision on sanctioning administrative violations No. 2320 / QD -UBND August 3, 2007.

Thirdly, considering the correlation of more than 10 months imprisonment for accomplices Nguyen Van Tung and Nguyen Mau Thuan, the penalty of 13 months imprisonment for defendant Nguyen Mau Chien is incompatible with the role of the defendant. to lead, entice and direct the entire criminal process of transporting banned goods as well as storing banned goods of defendants and their accomplices.

Fourth, the punishment of War 13 months in prison is unreasonable, does not mean deterrence and prevention of crimes on wildlife. The case of Nguyen Mau Chien is one of the cases with the largest number of rhino horn and ivory being seized within the interior of Vietnam (except for cases of arrest at airports and shipping). Although the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017 (hereinafter referred to as "2015 Penal Code") has no retrospective validity for the accused's crimes, however, in comparison, Penalties for transporting and storing rhino horns of 9 kg or more have been prosecuted for criminal liability with the highest penalty frame of the law is from 10 to 15 years imprisonment according to the Penal Code 2015, showing the extent of serious acts of transporting 32 kg of rhino horn and storing more than 2 kg of rhino horn, 17 kg of ivory, 2 individuals of frozen tigers and many other illegal wildlife products of the subject. On November 9, 2017, the People's Court of Ben Cau District sentenced Hoang Van Thuong to 9 months in prison for transporting 4 kg of ivory (the sentence was in effect). On November 21, 2017, the People's Court of Hoang Mai district also sentenced Nguyen Anh Son to 18 months in prison for possession of 14 kg of rhino horn (the sentence was in effect). Therefore, the penalty of 13 months imprisonment for Chien was unreasonable.

Fifthly, the case of transporting and storing prohibited goods of Nguyen Mau Chien and his accomplices attracted the special attention of international and domestic public opinion. The arrest of Nguyen Mau Chien is considered a great feat, demonstrating Vietnam's commitment and efforts in the fight against illegal hunting and trade. However, a 13-month sentence for Nguyen Mau Chien means that only two months left, this dangerous object will be released and it is possible to continue operating the wildlife trade. This judgment has significantly reduced the meaning of previous authorities' fights against crime, causing anger in public opinion, especially conservationists when on the same day 20/03/2018, male individuals The last of the Northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) has died and this species will soon become extinct in the near future.

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Dung, Deputy Director of ENV also shared: “We expect a correct sentence of the right person to be given to Chien. The object's behavior has caused severe damage to the ecological environment, speeding up the process of extinction of endangered, precious and rare species, indirectly destroying human habitats. Therefore, the rigorous and comprehensive trial of penalties on the basis of applying appropriate penalties for each of the defendants' crimes will have an important meaning not only in the prevention of crimes about wildlife, but also to preserve Vietnam's image and ensure the implementation of the Government's commitments under international law. ”

Officially effective from January 1, 2018, the Penal Code 2017 increases the maximum penalty for wildlife crimes from 7 years to 15 years in prison. ENV hopes with the new legal framework and strengthening the investigation and elimination of wildlife trafficking networks, who commit the acts of killing and trading rare and precious animals such as rhinos and elephants to make the image of Vietnam worse. as the Chien object will be properly punished.