The case concerns the payment of bribes to cover repatriation flights during the COVID-19 pandemic. For several months, the government has been carrying out an anti-corruption campaign. There are already more than twenty people processed. The Attorney General recommended the execution of Pham Trung Kien, former Secretary to the Deputy Minister of Health.
Hanoi () – Processes continue against Vietnamese government officials accused of taking bribes during the pandemic. The defendants would have organized repatriation flights for compatriots who were abroad. The Vietnamese attorney general recommended the death penalty for one of the 54 defendants. Earlier this week, the Hanoi Public Ministry had suggested the execution of Pham Trung Kien, former secretary to current Vice Health Minister Do Xuan Tuyen.
According to the judicial authorities, Kien would have received 253 bribes worth 42.6 billion dong, equivalent to 1.8 million dollars, exceeding the sums received by the other defendants in the case, of which about twenty are still on trial. According to the investigation, Kien was in charge of receiving documents and submitting them for the approval of the vice minister, and gave his opinion on the approval of flights proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He allegedly used his work to accumulate wealth. The other personalities involved in the corruption scandal – including several officials from the Vietnamese embassy in Malaysia – could receive sentences of up to 20 years in prison. They were all ordered to pay back the illegally obtained money.
Between 2020 and 2021, Vietnam organized more than 1,000 flights to repatriate some 200,000 Vietnamese citizens who were in 62 foreign countries. However, due to the urgency of the health emergency, the prices were inflated by the agencies that managed the flights in agreement with government officials. It was the citizens who paid the price.
For some commentators, Vietnam’s anti-corruption campaign is controversial. Vietnam has a lot to gain from strengthening its image and being seen as a safe country to do business with. At the same time, the press and dissent are under the tight control of the central government. Therefore, it is difficult to understand to what extent there are political motivations behind the recent purges.
According to a Amnesty International report published in May of this year, in 2022 Vietnam carried out 100 executions. The actual figure could be much higher, considering that the country classifies execution data as a state secret. Human rights experts comment that in Vietnam, the death penalty is often applied for crimes related to drug trafficking, despite the fact that international law does not define these activities as a “serious crime.”
According to other sources, Vietnam would be the third country in the world in number of executions -after China and Iran- with 429 carried out between 2013 and 2016 and a subsequent increase, during the pandemic period. Human rights defenders believe that around 1,000 people are being held on death row, including several foreigners from Laos, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia, but also from Australia and Kenya. The country is located near the so-called “Golden Triangle”, the region of Southeast Asia known for the production and trade of opium and other drugs.
