A court in Hanoi sentenced a journalist to two years in prison after he exposed a multi-million dollar political corruption scandal.
Hanoi People’s court, after a trial that lasted only one day and a half, sentenced a journalist to two years in prison after he exposed a scandal involving high officials taking off aid money, in part to bet on European soccer matches, to purchase of luxury automobiles, and to expense for mistresses and prostitutes.
The jailed journalist, Nguyen Viet Chien, 56, denied each single charge imposed on him, in particular the accusation of "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state."
"With my journalist conscience, I can say I never have any other purpose in mind when writing my reports but exposing wrongdoing and fighting corruption," he told the court.
"When PMU 18 was discovered, the whole political system of this country was focused on the issue," he added. He also insisted that until his arrest he had never received a reprimand, defamation suit, or complaint from a reader.
However, prosecutors argued that his report contained errors and bias and had tarnished the image of officials, Communist cadres, Vietnam, and its leadership.
The judge, in sentencing, reiterated the prosecution case that "hostile forces, reactionaries, and political opportunists" had taken advantage of the scandal to attack Vietnam's state and party leadership.
One of his sources, Lt. Col. Dinh Van Huynh, 50, was given a one-year sentence for "deliberately revealing state secrets." On the first day in the trial, Huynh had defended himself fiercely. However, on the second day, he suddenly accepted all the charges. On the contrary, Chien was unrepentant during the trial.
Another journalist, Nguyen Van Hai, 33, who admitted to some unintended errors in his reports and during the hearings broke down in tears, received a more lenient two-year non-custodial term, and was allowed to walk free.
Police Major General Pham Xuan Quac, 62, who headed the investigation, received only an official warning.
The scandal was deeply embarrassing for the government. In a series of articles in 2006, Chien, Hai, and some other 25 reporters exposed a unit in the Transportation Ministry, known as PMU18, where officials had been embezzling funds meant for infrastructure development, much of which had been donated by the World Bank and Japan.
The minister of transportation resigned and a deputy minister was charged in connection with the case. However, the charges against the deputy minister were dropped last March, and the two journalists were arrested six weeks later after they had revealed some 40 government officials had given bribes to cover-up the case.
These arrests have shed a cloud of fear on media personnel, and forced some of them to attack on Catholics, second-class citizens to demonstrate their loyalty in order to drive away from suspicion.
A US embassy statement said the sentences "contradict the rights available to journalists under Vietnamese law and the verbal commitments of Vietnamese officials on freedom of the press."
"These results are particularly worrisome in light of the serious corruption issues that their earlier investigations had brought to light," it said.
"The United States has repeatedly called for full freedom of the media in Vietnam and urges the government of Vietnam to support these freedoms, which are so critical to combating social scourges such as corruption and abuse of power, and to the further economic development of Vietnam."
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| Nguyen Viet Chien defending in his trial |
The jailed journalist, Nguyen Viet Chien, 56, denied each single charge imposed on him, in particular the accusation of "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state."
"With my journalist conscience, I can say I never have any other purpose in mind when writing my reports but exposing wrongdoing and fighting corruption," he told the court.
"When PMU 18 was discovered, the whole political system of this country was focused on the issue," he added. He also insisted that until his arrest he had never received a reprimand, defamation suit, or complaint from a reader.
However, prosecutors argued that his report contained errors and bias and had tarnished the image of officials, Communist cadres, Vietnam, and its leadership.
The judge, in sentencing, reiterated the prosecution case that "hostile forces, reactionaries, and political opportunists" had taken advantage of the scandal to attack Vietnam's state and party leadership.
One of his sources, Lt. Col. Dinh Van Huynh, 50, was given a one-year sentence for "deliberately revealing state secrets." On the first day in the trial, Huynh had defended himself fiercely. However, on the second day, he suddenly accepted all the charges. On the contrary, Chien was unrepentant during the trial.
Another journalist, Nguyen Van Hai, 33, who admitted to some unintended errors in his reports and during the hearings broke down in tears, received a more lenient two-year non-custodial term, and was allowed to walk free.
Police Major General Pham Xuan Quac, 62, who headed the investigation, received only an official warning.
The scandal was deeply embarrassing for the government. In a series of articles in 2006, Chien, Hai, and some other 25 reporters exposed a unit in the Transportation Ministry, known as PMU18, where officials had been embezzling funds meant for infrastructure development, much of which had been donated by the World Bank and Japan.
The minister of transportation resigned and a deputy minister was charged in connection with the case. However, the charges against the deputy minister were dropped last March, and the two journalists were arrested six weeks later after they had revealed some 40 government officials had given bribes to cover-up the case.
These arrests have shed a cloud of fear on media personnel, and forced some of them to attack on Catholics, second-class citizens to demonstrate their loyalty in order to drive away from suspicion.
A US embassy statement said the sentences "contradict the rights available to journalists under Vietnamese law and the verbal commitments of Vietnamese officials on freedom of the press."
"These results are particularly worrisome in light of the serious corruption issues that their earlier investigations had brought to light," it said.
"The United States has repeatedly called for full freedom of the media in Vietnam and urges the government of Vietnam to support these freedoms, which are so critical to combating social scourges such as corruption and abuse of power, and to the further economic development of Vietnam."