Ex-police boss sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment
The Hanoi People’s Court on January 8 sentenced Duong Tu Trong, former Deputy Director of Haiphong city's Police Department, to 18 years’ imprisonment on a charge of organising for a wanted person to flee abroad.
Trong and six accomplices were charged with helping Duong Chi Dung, the defendant’s brother and the disgraced ex-chairman of State-owned shipping corporation Vinalines, flee Vietnam in May 2012.
Dung ran away to Cambodia to escape from police wishing to arrest him for his detrimental mismanagement of Vinalines. Later he was arrested by Cambodian police and extradited home to face court proceedings.
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According to the indictment, after receiving a tip that his brother would be arrested and prosecuted, Trong colluded with his accomplices to arrange for Dung to escape via the Moc Bai border gate in southern Tay Ninh province on May 23, 2012.
Each of Trong’s associates were also handed jail sentences of varying severity:
· Vu Tien Son, the ex-Deputy Head of the Social Crime Investigation Police Section of Haiphong Police Department, received 13 years in prison
· Hoang Van Thang, a former officer of the Environmental Crime Investigation Police Section of Haiphong Police Department, received 5 years
· Nguyen Trong Anh, Son’s former subordinate, received 6 years
· Dong Xuan Phong, a former official at Haiphong City Customs Department, received 7 years
· Tran Van Dung, 45, aka Dung “ Bac Kan ”, a resident in Haiphong’s Hong Bang district, received 8 years
· Pham Minh Tuan, former Director of Bach Dang Enterprise in Haiphong city, received 5 years
After the case was heard, the council of judges found that Trong was the mastermind behind the plan for Dung to flee abroad, directly compromising the State management of immigration, blocking the investigation into the Vinalines case and negatively affecting public trust in law enforcement agencies.
Dung - who was eventually sentenced to death at a trial in December last year after being found guilty of embezzlement and intentionally violating State regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences - appeared in court as a witness at his brother’s trial.
There he admitted that he received information he was to be arrested from a senior police official.
After finding Trong and his accomplices guilty, the judges decided to launch a criminal case involving the act of intentionally leaking State secrets under Article 263 of the Penal Code. The Hanoi People’s Procuracy has been entrusted to deal with the case, which will take place in the near future.