In the first instance, former VEC General Director Mai Tuan Anh was sentenced to 42 months in prison by the first instance jury of the Hanoi People’s Court for “Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences”. The remaining defendants were sentenced to sentences ranging from 30 months to 6 years in prison for the crime of “Violating regulations on construction investment causing serious consequences”.
After the first instance trial, 10 defendants filed an appeal. Some of them asked for a reduced sentence, while others asked for a suspended sentence.
According to the first instance judgment, the Da Nang – Quang Ngai expressway project is a key national project, invested by the Vietnam Expressway Development Corporation (VEC), with a total length of nearly 140km. Of which, phase 1 is 65km long from Da Nang city to Tam Ky city (Quang Nam), opened to traffic in August 2017, including 8 packages. Phase 2 is more than 74km long, from Tam Ky to Quang Ngai city, opened to traffic in September 2018, including 5 packages.
But as soon as it came into use, the expressway had many damaged spots, seriously affecting operations and traffic safety. Violations in phase 1 (65km long) have been handled with 36 defendants. In phase 2 of the case, 22 defendants were brought to trial.
The first-instance court determined that the defendants, who were leaders of the project investor, project management board, construction contractor and supervision consultant, had committed many violations leading to the project not meeting quality standards.