The defendants at the mobile trial. — Photo congly.vn

CÀ MAU —  The People’s Court of Cà Mau Province held two mobile trials in Sông Đốc Commune on Wednesday, tackling cases of related to the organisation of illegal exit and the unlawful cross-border transport of goods, both linked to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.

The trials drew the attention of hundreds of local fishermen and residents, as they are part of the province’s efforts to raise public awareness about IUU violations and demonstrate strict law enforcement.

The mobile hearings were organised under the coordination of the province's Steering Committee for IUU Fishing Prevention and departments of Justice, Public Security, and People’s Procuracy.

Defendants Đinh Công Lý, born in 1988, residing in Sông Đốc Commune; and Tô Hiền Đệ, born in 1972, and Nguyễn Chí Linh, born in 1983, both residing in neighbouring An Giang Province, were prosecuted for organising illegal exit under Article 348 of the Penal Code.

Another defendant, Trần Trung Cang, born in 1991, residing in Sông Đốc Commune, was charged with illegally transporting goods across the border under Article 189.

According to the indictments, in early March, Lý arranged for two fishing vessels, CM-91056-TS and CM-92601-TS, captained by Đệ and Linh, to go fishing with ten hired crew members. The boats departed from Sông Đốc Border Guard Station without carrying out immigration procedures. On April 6, both vessels were seized by Malaysian authorities in Sabah waters for illegal fishing.

In the second case, during a patrol on February 15, a Việt Nam Coast Guard team discovered fishing boat CM-91987-TS, captained by Cang, returning from foreign waters with more than 68 tonnes of seafood. Cang had been hired to transport the catch from foreign fishing grounds back to Việt Nam for sale.

At the trials, all defendants admitted their wrongdoing and expressed regret, acknowledging that their actions violated Vietnamese law, damaged the interests of local fishing communities, and affected the country’s international image as it works to have the EU’s “yellow card” warning on IUU fishing lifted.

The court sentenced Lý to eight years in prison and fined him VNĐ20 million (US$760). Meanwhile, Đệ and Linh each received five years in prison.

Cang was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to forfeit VNĐ688 million from the sale of seized seafood. — VNA/VNS