The Communist authorities said that on January 3, 2024, the Hanoi People’s Court will hear the Viet A test kit case. Among them, two former Ministers Nguyen Thanh Long and Chu Ngoc Anh and 36 defendants will be bought to the court, and the trial is expected to last 20 days.
On May 24, 2022, Nguyen Huynh (Deputy Head of Price Management Department, Drug Administration, Ministry of Health) was arrested for investigation. He is accused of taking advantage of his role as a secretary of Nguyen Thanh Long, during Long’s time as Permanent Deputy Minister of Health, to introduce, influence, intervene and commit a number of violations related to the Viet A case.
Minister of Public Security To Lam arrested Huynh, the purpose was to capture Minister Nguyen Thanh Long. And 2 weeks later, Nguyen Thanh Long was arrested. This is a way to let the public know that Nguyen Huynh has revealed his boss’s mistakes.
However, internal information said that Nguyen Huynh did not declare anything to the Investigation Agency. To Lam indiscriminately arrested Nguyen Thanh Long, and then forced Nguyen Huynh to confess.
To Lam’s method of doing things has been the same for a long time, without following any criminal proceedings. The recent arrest of Luu Binh Nhuong was also done indiscriminately, then tried to frame the crime later. However, the Thai Binh Police’s approach in the case of Mr. Luu Binh Nhuong was too bad, or too hasty, revealing too many loopholes. As for the case of Nguyen Huynh, former Secretary of Nguyen Thanh Long, the Ministry of Public Security is more secretive, only insiders know.
To legitimize the forced confession, To Lam provided information for the press to simultaneously publish that the Investigation Agency determined the total amount of money Phan Quoc Viet had paid as a bribe to former Minister Nguyen Thanh Long up to $2.25 million (more than VND51 billion). Of which, Viet gave Nguyen Huynh $2.2 million to transfer to Nguyen Thanh Long, and Viet directly gave him $50,000.
However, an inside source told us that this is the number that the Investigation Agency created to frame the crime. In fact, Mr. Nguyen Huynh did not betray his boss.
Not only Nguyen Huynh, but also Nguyen Nam Lien – former Director of the Department of Financial Planning, Ministry of Health – is also similar. Nguyen Nam Lien did not plead guilty, but was forced to confess, and the police also provided data to the press to create public opinion to clear the way.
Corrupt officials were arrested, many of them were very clever, they made the police investigation powerless. It’s the truth.
Proving the defendant’s guilt without forced confession or corporal punishment is the responsibility of the investigating police. If the defendant is truly guilty, but the investigating police cannot find evidence to prove their guilt, then they must be considered innocent. The important thing to ensure justice is that the investigation work must follow the procedural process, and abuse of power to force corporal confessions is not allowed.
If corporal punishment is used, or the proceedings are wrong, it can easily lead to miscarriages of justice. Allowing the media to condemn instead of the court is also dangerous, because it creates a habit of giving people – those who do not understand the law – the right to condemn others. This creates injustice and discrimination in society.
In democratic countries, people respect the right to silence and the right to have a lawyer in the first place. These are two basic rights to protect the accused and avoid police abuse of power.
However, the Communist government does not give the accused those two rights. The purpose is to make it easier for the police to prosecute and solve crimes quickly, establish records, or sentence according to the Party’s wishes. It can be said that the number of wrongful convictions in the Vietnamese judiciary is countless because of such provisions of the law.
The courts use pre-determined sentences, the police arbitrarily compound crimes if they are powerless in the investigation work. So, where can we find fairness and justice in this Communist country?
Thoibao.de (Translated)
