Foreign ministry's leaders should be punished for repatriation scandal: investigators

By Viet Tuan   December 21, 2022 | 08:12 am PT
Foreign ministry's leaders should be punished for repatriation scandal: investigators
Vietnamese board a repatriation flight by Vietnam Airlines from San Francisco, June 8, 2020. Photo courtesy of Vietnam Airlines
The Central Inspection Committee has proposed that the Politburo and the Party Central Committee Secretariat discipline the Minister of Foreign Affairs for his misconduct in the Covid-19 repatriation flight scandal.

It recommended disciplinary action against the ministry's Party Civil Affairs Committee in the terms of 2016-2021 and 2021-2026, and former Vietnam Ambassador to Japan Vu Hong Nam for their involvement in the same scandal.

The inspectors also reprimanded the standing board of the ministry's Party Committee and issued a warning to the ministry's Consular Department Party Committee.

Nguyen Hong Ha, Consul General of Vietnam in Osaka, Japan; Ly Tien Hung, former officer of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia; Nguyen Le Ngoc Anh, officer of the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia; and Vu Ngoc Minh, former officer of the Vietnamese Embassy in Angola were expelled from the Party.

Tran Viet Thai, Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia, was dismissed from all positions in the Party for the 2020-2025 term. Nguyen Hoang Linh, an officer at the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia, received a warning.

Pham Sanh Chau, former Ambassador to India; Vu Binh, Consul General in Fukuoka, Japan; and Pham Nhu Y, an officer of the Vietnamese Embassy in India, were reprimanded.

Central Inspection Committee investigators found that the above mentioned individuals, and the ministry's Party Civil Affairs Committee violated working regulations and the principle of democratic centralism. They demonstrated irresponsibility and poor leadership, both of which led to regulation violations by several organizations and individuals, the inspection committee reported.

The scandal has brought down Party members who exhibited "degraded political ideology, ethics and lifestyle," and "did things that party members are not allowed to do," such as accepting bribes, said inspectors.

The above violations caused immediate and serious consequences for society, according to investigators. The individuals and groups in question falsified Party and State guidelines and policies, and "reduced the prestige
of the Party organization and the foreign service," inspectors said.

After an 11-month investigation, Vietnamese police have arrested nearly 30 people from six ministries, government agencies and companies involved in the repatriation flight scandal during Covid-19.

The list includes Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung and Nguyen Quang Linh, assistant to Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh.

 
 
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