Mr. Diep Dung received 2 years in prison

On the evening of April 28, Mr Diep Dungformer chairman of the Board of Directors of Ho Chi Minh City Union of Commercial Cooperatives – Saigon Co.op, was convicted by the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City. Appropriating State secret documents.

As the person with the main role in the case, defendant Le Thi Phuong Hong (43 years old, doing freelancing after she was no longer a police officer) was sentenced to 6 years; Nguyen Hoai Bac (38 years old, former officer of the Economic Security Department of Ho Chi Minh City Police) was sentenced to 5 years in prison for the same crime Deliberately disclosing State secrets.

The case was related to State secrets and was tried in secret, so the trial panel did not publish views and comments on the defendants’ behavior.

According to the indictment, the process of Bac living with Hong as husband and wife brought home many documents from working with Mr. Diep Dung, about violations at Saigon Co.op. This investigator also regularly exchanged and provided information about the investigation process and verified sources of crime for Hong. This woman secretly read and recorded Mr. Dung’s phone number.

In August 2020, Hong actively texted to get to know Mr. Dung, saying that he knew that he was being investigated, if he wanted to, he could help. This woman’s purpose is to please Mr. Dung, to be introduced to buy cheap goods. In the documents Hong sent to Mr. Dung, there were 5 “Confidential” documents.

During the investigation, Mr. Dung complained, saying that there was no motive to appropriate secret documents or collect information from Hong. He also did not know who Hong was and all the information was actively exchanged by this woman.

In the petition submitted to the previous procedural agency, Mr. Dung’s defense lawyers said that the investigation conclusions and the indictment did not indicate that the documents containing State secret information in this case belonged to Mr. which directory. Since then, the lawyers have asked the procedural agency to review the nature of the case to stop the case and suspend the accused against Mr. Dung.

In addition to this case, at the end of 2020, Mr. Diep Dung was prosecuted by the Ho Chi Minh City Police for the crime of Abuse of power in the performance of official duties. Three days ago, Mr. Dung was decided by the Secretariat excommunicated from the Party.

This afternoon, Mrs. Diep Tu Anh (91 years old, Mr. Diep Dung’s mother, former Saigon Ranger) was brought to court by relatives. Her legs were too weak to walk, she was carried by relatives to the reception room, expressing her wish to see her child during the court hearing. “Since the day Mr. Dung was arrested, no one in his family has been able to meet him. I just hope to see him to help him remember and encourage him to stay healthy,” she said.

Previously, Ms. Diep Tu Anh sent an application to the Chief Justice of the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City and Chairman Tran Minh Chau asking to see her son. “I know this is a closed trial, so no one can participate in the trial without the summons of the court… I pledge to comply with all provisions of the law in this meeting and I also understand that this is a special exception for myself,” the petition stated.

Thao Mi