Hanoi (VNA) -ཧ The People’s Court of Hanoi opened the first-instance trial of the so-called "repatriation flight" case on July 11. The case has attracted attention of Party and State leaders as well as the public as it involves a number of individuals who abused their positions and power for their personal gains in the organisation of flights bringing Vietnamese citizens back home amidst the spreading COVID-19 pandemic in the world.

A total of 54 defendants will be tried in the case on different charges.

400 “repatriation flights”, 372 combo flights

After the success of the flight that brought 30 Vietnamese citizens home from Wuhan, China in March 2020, with the motto "no one is left behind", from April 2020, the Government allowed flights to be conducted to repatriate citizens from COVID-19-hit countries. Passengers only had to pay for flight tickets while medical quarantine after arrival was free of charge. The timely policy has been highly appreciated by the international community and supported by Vietnamese people at home and abroad, demonstrating the humanity of the Party and the State. As the demand for returning to Vietnam rose, the Government allowed the so-called “combo flights” with passengers voluntarily paying for all costs. Businesses that wanted to conduct “combo flights” had to ask for permission from the People’s Committees of the provinces and cities where repatriated citizens would be quarantined. Their application dossiers were later sent to the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department, which would collect opinions of the working group of the ministries of foreign affairs, public security, health, transport, and national defence. From early 2020 to mid-2021, authorities licensed and organised more than 1,000 flights to bring home over 200,000 citizens from 62 countries and territories. The Foreign Ministry alone proposed the Government approve 772 flights, including 400 repatriation flights and 372 “combo flights”. The investigation agency found that some offficials at the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security and a secretary of a deputy health minister asked businesses to pay 50 - 230 million VND (2,100 - 9,800 USD) for the procedures they handled for each flight. In order to have money to pay them, 20 businesses with over 100 legal entities had to raise flight ticket prices, and “invent” many expenses to charge the passengers wanting to return to Vietnam amid the pandemic.

54 defendants

Of the 54 defendants, 21 are accused of “taking bribes” under Article 354 of the Penal Code, while 23 are charged with “giving bribes” under Article 364 of the Penal Code, four are charged with “brokering bribes” under Article 365 of the Penal Code and four others are accused of "abusing position and power while performing official duties" in line with Article 356 of the Penal Code. One defendant is prosecuted for the charge of "committing fraud for property appropriation” under Article 174 and another is accused of both charges of "committing fraud for property appropriation" and “giving bribes”. The 21 defendants charged with "taking bribes" include Nguyen Quang Linh, former assistant to the Permanent Deputy Prime Minister of the Government; Nguyen Thanh Hai, Director of the International Relations Department of the Government Office; and Nguyen Tien Than and Nguyen Mai Anh, specialists of the International Relations Department of the Government Office. Former officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who are accused of the same charge include former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung, former head of the Consular Department Nguyen Thi Huong Lan, former deputy head of the department Do Hoang Tung, former chief of the department’s office Le Tuan Anh, and former deputy head of the department’s citizen protection desk Luu Tuan Dung. Also being accused of "taking bribes" are Vu Hong Nam, former Ambassador of Vietnam to Japan; Nguyen Hong Ha, former Consul General of Vietnam in Osaka, Japan; Ly Tien Hung, former official of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia; and Vu Ngoc Minh, former Ambassador of Vietnam to Angola. In addition, the other defendants charged with receiving bribes include Pham Trung Kien, expert at the Ministry of Health’s Department of Medical Equipment and Works; Ngo Quang Tuan, expert from the Ministry of Transport’s Department of International Cooperation; Vu Hong Quang, Deputy Head of Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam’s Air Transport Department; Tran Van Du, Vu Anh Tuan and Vu Sy Cuong, former officers of the Ministry of Public Security’s Immigration Department; Tran Van Tan, former Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Nam province; and Chu Xuan Dung, former Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee. The four defendants charged with "abusing their position and power while performing official duties" specified in Article 356 of the Penal Code are Tran Viet Thai, former Ambassador of Vietnam to Malaysia; and Nguyen Le Ngoc Anh, Nguyen Hoang Linh and Dang Minh Phuong, former officers of the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia. Aside from the suspects offering and accepting bribes to conduct repatriation flights, the procuracy also found that some colluded with each other to help a business during the investigation process. Accordingly, former Major General Nguyen Anh Tuan, former Deputy Director of the Hanoi Public Security Department, received 2.65 million USD to help Le Hong Son, General Director of the Bluesky company, and Nguyen Thi Thanh Hang, Deputy General Director of this company escape investigation. Tuan confessed that he kept 400,000 USD for himself and gave the remaining 2.25 million USD to Hoang Van Hung, former head of the investigation division of the Investment Security Department at the Ministry of Public Security. A record number of nearly 120 lawyers will defend the defendants at the court. The jury has summoned about 60 people having related rights and obligations, and 40 witnesses to the court, which is scheduled to last for one month./.