Judgment no. 24/2018/HSST dated 19/11/2018 on procuring of prostitution

PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE OF BAT XAT DISTRICT, LAO CAI PROVINCE

JUDGMENT NO. 24/2018/HSST DATED 19/11/2018 ON PROCURING OF PROSTITUTION

On November 19, 2019, in N 2 Neighborhood, TT B, B District, at the People’s Court of B District, Lao Cai Province, the accepted criminal case No. 23/2018/TLST-HS dated November 2, 2018 was brought for the public first instance trial under the Decision No. 24/2018/QDXXST-HS dated November 7, 2018 against the defendant: Nguyen Van Th, born on March 18, 1987 in District C, City H.

Permanent residence registration and current residence: V Hamlet, V Commune, C District, H City; Occupation: Freelancer; Education level: Illiterate; Ethnic: Kinh people; Gender: Male; Religion: None; Nationality: Vietnamese; Son of: Mr. Nguyen Van T and Mrs. Nghiem Thi Th; married to: Mai Thi H, 2 children born in 2012 and 2014; Previous crime: None; Previous arrest record: None; Personal record: Good; The defendant was in custody from August 29, 2018 to September 17, 2018 at which point he was put under Surety - Present.

THE CASE

Depending on the case file and development at the court, the case shall be summarized as follows:

Nguyen Van Th got to B Town looking for a job where he learned that local karaoke venues have demand for hostesses and prostitutes. Thanh recruited Hoang Thi A, born in 2000 in Hamlet 3, M Commune, V District, Lao Cai Province, Hoang Thi H, born in 1990 in T 1 Hamlet, T Town, BT District, Lao Cai Province, and Lo Thi P (Ph), born in 1985 in Ban D Hamlet, M Commune, T District, Lai Chau Province under management of Th. Their main work involves pouring beer in karaoke venues, they all rented with Th in N Hamlet, N commune, B District with all of their daily allowance is paid for by Th. Th also verbally agreed with A, H, and P that when they work as hostesses, they will earn VND 200.000 per hour; the split was: the female employee received VND 100.000, Th received VND 80.000, and owner of the karaoke venue received VND 20.000. Th also arranged separate agreement with P regarding prostitution at request of customers at which point P agreed. Th and P agreed on VND 300.000 per 35 minutes of sexual intercourse; in case of overnight prostitution, the rate depended on how early and how late the intercourse starts with customers typically paid from VND 500.000 to VND 1.000.000; the split was 50/50. By 12:30 a.m. of August 26, 2018, Duong Trong K, born in 1982, lived in N Neighborhood, Town B contacted P for prostitution and asked to meet P at Bac Ha Hotel in B 2 Neighborhood, B town for the purpose of prostitution at which point P agreed. Panh informed Th about the prostitution at which point Th agreed. Th used a red Sufat Retot motorcycle bearing license plate 24R1 - 0414 to take P to the rendezvous and return to the residence. P entered room No. 2 in Bac Ha Hotel to meet K and commit prostitution where they disagreed about time matters. P said “Can you hurry up? I will still charge you hourly”, at which point K yelled “Can I not enjoy what I paid for?”. Insulted, P said “You want to yell at me? I am calling the boss”, and called Th saying “Can you pick me up? The guy is humiliating me without intending to pay”. Th immediately arrived at Bac Ha Hotel to meet P who said while crying: “He beat me up and refused to pay”, Th asked and P pointed towards the room where K was in. When K exited the room, Th asked K “Why did you not pay?“ and kick K’s thigh with this right leg. They got involved in an altercation where they were intervened by Pham Van H, born in 1990 in N3 Neighborhood, Town B who is the owner of the hotel and Nong Van T who is the receptionist. K then asked H to give P 300.000 VND, P received the money, took Th back to their rented place, split the money in half where Th spent all of his share on personal spending while P spent 80.000 VND of her share on personal spending. K paid the 300.000 VND which H paid P in advance and paid 100.000 VND for the hotel room.

Indictment No. 23/CT-VKS-BH dated November 1, 2018 of the People’s Procuracy of B District, Lao Cai Province prosecuting the defendant Nguyen Van Th for the crime of “Procuring of prostitution” as per Clause 1 Article 328 of the Criminal Code.

At the court, representative of the People’s Procuracy of B District, Lao Cai Province impeaches the defendant and requests the trial panel to declare the defendant Nguyen Van Th guilty of “Procuring of prostitution”. In which:

Regarding the primary penalty: Apply Clause 1 Article 328; Point i, Point s Clause 1 Article 51; Clause 1 Article 65 of the Criminal Code. Hereby requests that the defendant Nguyen Van Th to be met with 9 to 12 months of imprisonment in form of suspended sentence.

Regarding additional penalty: No additional penalty shall be imposed on the defendant.

Regarding evidence: - Apply Point a, Point b Clause 1 Article 47 of the Criminal Code and Point a Clause 2 Article 106 of the Criminal Proceeding Code, confiscate and submit the following to the state budget: 1 red Sufat Retot motorcycle with license plate 24R1 - 0414; 1 black NOKIA mobile phone, and 70.000 VND.

- Apply Point a and Point c Clause 1 Article 47 of the Criminal Code and Point a Clause 2 Article 106 of the Criminal Proceeding Code, confiscate and destroy the following: 14 condoms; 4 pink rectangular boxes of condoms, dimension of each box is 23 x 11 x 6 cm, bears foreign text on the outside; 2 black notebooks, and 2 deposit orders at Agribank B.

- Apply Point b Clause 1 Article 47 of the Criminal Code and Point b Clause 2 Article 106 of the Criminal Proceeding Code. Confiscate and submit 150.000 VND gained as a result of the violation by the defendant Nguyen Van Th to the state budget.

The defendant must incur court fee and has the right to appeal the judgment.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

With respect to the details of the case, based on the case file documents and evidence that have been involved in the litigation at the court, the trial panel forms the judgment as follows:

 [1]. Regarding action and decision on arraignment of the prosecuting police authority of B District, Lao Cai Province, investigators, and People’s Procuracy of B District, Lao Cai Province, and procurators have adequately adhered to the Criminal Proceeding Code during investigation and prosecution process. Throughout investigation process and the trial, the defendant did not question or complain about affairs and decision of legal proceeding authority and individuals. Thus, all acts and decisions on proceeding carried out by legal proceeding authority and individual are legitimate.

 [2] Regarding violation of the defendant: The defendant Nguyen Van Th admits to all charges as well as the case as detailed above at court. The defendant’s testimony at court matches testimony of the defendant during investigation, testimonies of witnesses and persons related to the case and other documentary evidence present in the case file. The defendant is aware of the severity of his action and complies with haste. It is established on a well-grounded basis that: On August 26, 2018, the defendant Nguyen Van Th commits procuring of prostitution for Lo Thi P and the buyer Duong Trong K with the goal of earning money for personal spending. The defendant’s violation sufficiently constitutes the crime of “Procuring of prostitution”.

Thus, the People’s Procuracy of B District, Lao Cai Province prosecutes the defendant Nguyen Van Th for the crime of “Procuring of prostitution” in accordance with Clause 1 Article 328 of the Criminal Code is well-grounded and legitimate.

 [3]. Regarding severity, mitigating circumstances, and aggravating circumstances: The defendant's violation is a menace to society, causes unrest among the general public, and affects local security. The defendant’s violation violates public order, social moral, cultural life, human life, and spread infectious diseases, especially HIV/AIDS. The defendant is aware of how dangerous to society his violation is but still commits the violation out of personal gain. Testimony of the defendant matches that of the prostitute, the buyer, documents and evidence collected during investigation. Thus, the defendant must be met with strict penalties that match the severity and nature of the violation for the purpose of re-education and deterrence.

Considering that the defendant Nguyen Van Th actively cooperates, shows remorse during investigation and at court, has no prior criminal record, falls under less severe cases, is illiterate and has limited knowledge of the law. These are mitigating circumstances mentioned under Point i and Point s Clause 1 Article 51 of the Criminal Code used by the trial panel when deciding on penalties for the defendant and reducing penalty for the defendant.

The trial panel deems that the defendant benefits from multiple mitigating circumstances, has good personal record, criminal record, adequately complies with local regulations, and has defined residence prior to violation and thus is not required to be removed from social life in order to be properly re-educated. Apply Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article 65 of the Criminal Code to grant suspended sentence to the defendant and hand over the defendant to People’s Committee of V Commune, C District, H City for supervision and re-education during probation.

 [4]. Regarding additional penalty: Considering that the defendant has unstable income and is unable to implement the judgment, no additional penalty shall be imposed on Nguyen Van Th.

 [5] Regarding evidence of the case: The investigation has obtained:

- 1 red SUFAT RETOT motorcycle, license plate 24R1 - 0414 and 1 vehicle registration No. 000490 named Do Duc Th, address: N, T Commune, B District, Lao Cai Province issued by police authority of Lao Cai Province on October 8, 2007.

- 1 old, used, black NOKIA 1280 with serial number 358252044878796 containing 1 Mobiphone SIM with number 0934635487 of Nguyen Van Th.

- 14 unused condoms. Including: 11 white square condoms having a heart and a rose images printed on and foreign text SWM; 2 red square condoms containing the text ORACHOI; 1 pink rectangular condom containing the text Romanic Rose.

- 2 black rectangular notebooks of Business brand, 15 x 10 cm.

- 2 deposit orders of Agribank of B District signifying the transferor as Lo Thi P. and the recipient as Lo Van Ch. 1 deposit is dated August 16, 2018; 1 deposit is dated August 23, 2018.

- 4 unused pink rectangular condom boxes, dimension 23x11x6 cm, foreign text printed on the outside.

- 70.000 VND gained by Lo Thi P via means of prostitution.

- 1 white VIVO mobile phone containing 2 SIM cards of Duong Trong K.

- 1 pink OPPO mobile phone containing a SIM card of Lo Thi P.

During investigation, the investigating police authority have decided to: Return 1 white VIVO mobile phone containing 2 SIM cards to Duong Trong K; 1 pink OPPO mobile phone containing 1 SIM card to Lo Thi P. The trial panel deems this matter needs no further resolution.

Regarding the remaining evidence, the trial panel deems:

- 1 red SUFAT RETOT motorcycle bearing license plate 24R1-0414 and 1 vehicle registration No. 000490 named Do Duc Th, Address: N, T Commune, B District, Lao Cai Province issued by Lao Cai Province police authority on October 8, 2007. This vehicle was used by Th to take P to the location of prostitution. Th had sold this motorcycle to another person but failed to remember the name of the buyer and thus is currently no longer the owner of this vehicle. Th claimed to have purchased the vehicle from a scrap dealer but have not adopted ownership transfer procedures and thus the vehicle is legal property of Th but must be confiscated and submitted to the state budget.

Regarding the black NOKIA 1280 containing a Mobiphonne SIM card numbered 0934635487 of Nguyen Van Th. This phone was used by Th to contact P in order to coordinate prostitution and thus must be confiscated and submitted to the state budget while destroying the SIM card therein.

Regarding 2 deposit orders of Agribank of B District where the transferor is Lo Thi P and the recipient is Lo Van C with 1 deposit order is dated August 16, 2018 and the other deposit order is dated August 23, 2018. P has no need for the deposit orders so the deposit orders are to be destroyed.

Regarding 2 black rectangular notebooks of Business brand, dimension 15 x 10 cm, collected from Nguyen Van Th and Lo Thi P. Confiscation and destruction are deemed necessary.

Regarding 4 pink rectangular unused condom boxes, dimension 23 x 11 x 6 cm, printed with foreign text on the outside and 14 unused condoms. Confiscation and destruction are deemed necessary.

70.000 VND gained by Lo Thi P via means of prostitution is currently held in account No. 394901053629 of police authority of B District at the State Treasury of B District, Lao Cai Province. Confiscation and submission to state budget are deemed necessary.

The investigation revealed that following the prostitution, Lo Thi P gave Nguyen Van Th 150.000 VND. Th has spent all of the money. The trial panel deems that this money is gained by violation and must be submitted to the state budget.

 [6]. Incriminating evidence and mitigating evidence of procurators, the defendant, and for the defendant are appropriate and accepted by the trial panel.

 [7]. Regarding Lo Thi P and Duong Trong K, police authority of B District have imposed monetary fine. The trial panel deems the fine compliant with the law.

 [8]. Regarding court fee: The defendant must incur first-instance criminal court fee as per the laws.

For all reasons above,

DECISION

1. Regarding charge: The defendant is guilty of “Procuring prostitution”.

Pursuant to Clause 1 Article 328; Point i, Point s Clause 1 Article 51; Clause 1, Clause 2 Article 65 of the Criminal Code. The defendant Nguyen Van Th is met with 9 months of imprisonment in form of suspended sentence. The probation period lasts for 1 year and 6 months. The probation period starts from the date on which the first-instance judgment is declared.

The defendant Nguyen Van Th is to be placed under management of People’s Committee of V Commune, C District, H City for supervision and re-education throughout probation period.

If the defendant changes his residence, conform to Clause 1 Article 69 of the Criminal Proceeding Code.

 “If a person benefitting from a suspended sentence intentionally violates their obligations at least twice during probation period, the Court may decide to compel them to comply with imprisonment of the judgment which the person has been complying with in form of suspended sentence.”

2. Regarding evidence: Pursuant to Point a and Point b Clause 1 Article 47 of the Criminal Code; Clause 2 Article 106 of the Criminal Proceeding Code:

- Confiscate, foreclose, and submit the following to the state budget: 1 red SUFAT RETOT motorcycle bearing license plate numbered 24R1-0414 and 1 vehicle registration No. 000490 named Do Duc Th, address: N Hamlet, T Commune, B District, Lao Cai Province issued by police authority of Lao Cai Province on October 8, 2007 of Nguyen Van Th.

- Confiscate and foreclose 1 black NOKIA 1280 mobile phone of Nguyen Van Th.

Confiscate and destroy:

- 2 deposit orders of Agribank of B District signifying the transferor as Lo Thi P and the recipient as Lo Van Ch. 1 deposit order is dated August 16, 2018; 1 deposit order is dated August 23, 2018.

- 2 black rectangular notebooks of Business brand, dimension 15 x 10 cm, of Nguyen Van Th and Lo Thi P.

- 4 pink rectangular unused condom boxes, dimension 23 x 11 x 6 cm, printed with foreign text on the outside and 14 unused condoms.

- 1 SIM card and mobile phone of Nguyen Van Th.

- Submit 70.000 VND gained by Lo Thi P via means of prostitution currently held in account No. 394901053629 of police authority of B District at the State Treasury of B District, Lao Cai Province to the state budget.

 (All evidence above is according to Record of evidence receipt between investigating police authority of B District and Civil Judgment Enforcement Sub-department of B District dated November 1, 2018).

- Charge Nguyen Van Th 150.000 VND which was gained by the violation and submit to state budget.

3. Regarding court fee: Pursuant to Clause 2 Article 136 of the Criminal Proceeding Code; Resolution No. 326/2016/UBTVQH14 dated December 30, 2016. The defendant Nguyen Van Th must incur first instance criminal court fee of 200.000 VND.

4. Regarding the right to appeal: The defendant has the right to appeal within 15 days from the date of the judgment in accordance with Clause 1 Article 331; Clause 1 Article 333 of the Criminal Proceeding Code.