Vietnamese officials accused of corruption on repatriation flights at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic stand during their trial at the People’s Court in Hanoi, December 24, 2024. STR / AFP They took advantage of “party policies, of the State and their positions (…) to accept bribes” from citizens wishing to return to Vietnam during the health crisis, according to the Cong Ly newspaper, citing the verdict. Seventeen Vietnamese officials were sentenced, Friday, December 27, to sentences of up to twelve years in prison for corruption, for having received bribes for repatriation flights and quarantines during the Covid pandemic. 19. Vietnam’s borders were then closed to almost all travelers except its nationals who wished to return. However, they had to face complex entry procedures, expensive flights and high quarantine costs. The defendants were found guilty of paying or receiving bribes to facilitate obtaining seats on repatriation flights and the organization of quarantine. Tran Tung, former head of Thai Nguyen province, was found guilty of receiving around $300,000 (288,212.12 euros) in bribes and commissions for organizing quarantines. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison for corruption and abuse of power. Sixteen other defendants, transport ministry officials, provincial officials and travel agency employees, were sentenced to up to three and a half years in prison for corruption and abuse of power. Reread our 2022 archive | Article reserved for our subscribers In Vietnam, the fight against corruption is in full swing Read later In 2023, 54 officials and personalities from the Vietnamese business world were found guilty of corruption, again concerning repatriation flights organized during the Covid pandemic. 19. In this case, the total bribes reached 9.5 million dollars (9.1 million euros). Four former senior officials at the ministries of foreign affairs, health and public security were then sentenced to life in prison. A mother from Hanoi declared to Agence France-Presse in 2023, on condition of anonymity, that she had to pay up to 12,000 dollars (more than 11,500 euros) so that her teenage daughter could return to Vietnam from his boarding school located in Europe. The World with AFP
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Author : News7
Publish date : 2024-12-28 07:37:59
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