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Former Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung and Vu Hong Nam. (Photo: SGGP) |
The Supreme People's Procuracy has completed the indictment of 54 defendants in the "Rescue flight" case that occurred at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hanoi City, other provinces, and cities on the morning of April 19, after about a week of the investigation by the Ministry of Public Security.
There are 54 defendants in the case, including 26 individuals from the Government Office and the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Health, and Transport, as well as former police officers. The remaining defendants are associated with provincial People's Committees, enterprises, and intermediaries.
Notably, among the defendants are former Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung and Vu Hong Nam, as well as Nguyen Quang Linh (former Assistant Deputy Prime Minister) and Nguyen Thi Huong Lan (former Director of Consular Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), who have been accused of "Taking bribes."
In addition, the People's Procuracy also brought charges against Chu Xuan Dung, former Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, Tran Van Tan, former Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Nam Province, and 15 other defendants for their involvement in the same crime.
The four defendants were charged with the crime of "Abusing powers while performing official duties" including Tran Viet Thai (former Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia) and three officers of this unit: Nguyen Le Ngoc Anh, Nguyen Hoang Linh, and Dang Minh Phuong.
The remaining 29 defendants face charges of "Bribery", "Bribery brokerage", and "Fraudulent appropriation of property". Notably, defendant Tran Thi Ha Lien, a freelance worker, is wanted for her involvement in "Bribery brokerage".
The indictment states that in April 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic spread throughout the world, the demand for repatriation flights for Vietnamese citizens abroad increased significantly, starting with over 10,000 people and rapidly increasing to tens of thousands every month.
In response to this, after successfully rescuing 30 Vietnamese citizens from Wuhan (China) and adhering to the motto of "No one is left behind", the Vietnamese Government authorized the implementation of rescue flights in April 2020. As a result, a working group consisting of five ministries (Foreign Affairs, Health, Transport, Public Security, and National Defense) was established to organize and facilitate these repatriation flights.
Implementing the above policy, the authorities granted licenses and organized over 1,000 flights to repatriate more than 200,000 people from 62 countries and territories back to Vietnam.
However, during the implementation process, there were issues related to overlapping and unclear authority. The accused individuals, as well as competent officials within the ministries and agencies, allegedly created difficulties and engaged in harassment, making it challenging for businesses to organize flights. They also established a mechanism for seeking permission that forced enterprises to raise airfares and incur other expenses for facilitation and reportedly demanded bribes.
