BFF-23 Vietnam oil exec ‘kidnapped’ from Germany to face trial

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Vietnam oil exec ‘kidnapped’ from Germany to face trial

HANOI, Dec 27, 2017 (BSS/AFP) – A former Vietnamese official allegedly
kidnapped from Germany will go on trial in Hanoi in January on corruption
charges, officials said Wednesday, a high-profile case that could see the ex-
oil executive put to death.

Vietnam’s communist government has jailed or arrested scores of former
officials, bankers and state executives this year as part of a sweeping anti-
corruption crackdown that some observers say is driven by political
infighting.

But Trinh Xuan Thanh’s brazen Cold War-style kidnapping from a Berlin park
by Vietnamese security agents in July stunned many inside and outside the
one-party state, sparking a diplomatic dust-up that Germany called a
“scandalous violation” of its sovereignty.

Hanoi had sought Thanh, the former head of state-run PetroVietnam
Construction (PVC), for mismanagement and embezzlement causing massive
losses.

Vietnamese officials said he returned home voluntarily to face the charges.

But German authorities said he was kidnapped on their soil, where he had
sought asylum.

Thanh will face trial on January 8, alongside the former head of
PetroVietnam and ex-politburo member Dinh La Thang, a court clerk told AFP.

As head of PetroVietnam, Thang allegedly carved out a deal with Thanh —
then chairman of the construction subsidiary of PetroVietnam — to build a
thermal power plant. The deal allegedly caused losses of $5.2 million for the
state.

Twenty others also face charges in the case.

Officials said the defendants “were mostly key leaders in important
economic organisations, trusted by the state and the people to manage state
capital”, according to the indictment cited by the official Vietnam News
Agency.

MORE/MR/ 1250 Hrs

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Thang and Thanh face 20 years in jail for mismanagement, while the former
PVC head Thanh faces an additional charge of embezzlement, which carries the
death penalty.

Officials had earlier accused Thanh of causing losses worth $150 million,
which he could still face in a separate trial.

Thanh appears to have been a marked man ever since he was spotted driving a
flashy Lexus car with government plates while serving as deputy head of
southern Hau Giang province.

The men are the most prominent officials to face corruption charges as part
of Hanoi’s massive crackdown that has already seen one senior banker
sentenced to death and scores of others face stiff jail terms.

Observers say the anti-corruption sweep, which echoes a graft crackdown in
Communist China, is being led by a conservative leadership in place since
last year.

Many believe it is as much about cleaning up Vietnam’s corrupted ranks as
it is about weeding out political enemies aligned with the former leadership.

Vietnam has been ranked 113 out of 176 on the corruption index by
Transparency International, worse than its Southeast Asian neighbours
Thailand, the Philippines and Myanmar.

BSS/AFP/MR/ 1250 hrs