|
Listen to article
|
On Tuesday, over a dozen Vietnamese officials stood trial in Hanoi, accused of corruption related to the organization of repatriation flights during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. This scandal, which sparked outrage, had already resulted in 54 convictions last year.
This trial is emblematic of a larger anti-corruption drive sweeping the nation, one that has already claimed the positions of a president and two deputy prime ministers—an extraordinary turn of events in a country where political shifts are typically executed with meticulous precision.
Fifty-four officials and business leaders were found guilty last year for their involvement in a massive bribery scheme, accused of receiving, offering, or acting as intermediaries in bribes that state media reported to total a remarkable $9.5 million.
Among those convicted were four former senior officials from the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Health, and Public Security, each sentenced to life in prison. On Tuesday, 17 more individuals stood before the court, charged with bribery, abuse of power, and harboring criminals—among them, officials from the Transport Ministry, provincial authorities, and employees from travel companies.
The amount involved in this case is about $350,000, with the trial expected to last about a week.
At the height of the pandemic in early 2020 — when Vietnam had closed its borders to almost everyone bar returning citizens — the defendants allegedly gave or took bribes to help people get seats on repatriation flights.
At the time, returnees faced complicated entry procedures, expensive flights and quarantine costs.
Read also: Death Penalty For Property Tycoon Upheld By Vietnam Court
Last year, a Hanoi mother told AFP how she had spent over $10,000 to get her teenage daughter back to Vietnam from a boarding school in Europe at the peak of the pandemic.
The graft allegations come as part of an anti-corruption drive that has uncovered a number of deals done during Vietnam’s Covid pandemic response.
Last year, the country’s rubber-stamp National Assembly removed former foreign affairs minister Pham Binh Minh and Vu Duc Dam, who oversaw the Covid-19 pandemic response, from their positions as deputy prime ministers.
The crackdown also brought down President Nguyen Xuan Phuc after he “took political responsibility” for various officials’ shortcomings.
