Vietnam

Convicted Ex-Vietnamese Shipping Firm Boss Drops Bombshell in Court

Former senior police official Duong Tu Trong (C) is led away after being sentenced to 18 years in jail by Hanoi's People's Court on Jan. 8, 2014 for his role in helping his elder brother, Duong Tri Dung, the disgraced former chairman of state shipping firm Vinalines, flee the country.

The former head of a beleaguered Vietnamese state shipping company sentenced to death for corruption has dropped a bombshell at a court hearing, saying he paid bribes to top officials of the ruling Communist Party in a futile bid to avoid arrest and prosecution, according to state media Wednesday.

Duong Tri Dung's testimony that he paid U.S. $500,000 to Deputy Minister of Public Security Pham Quy Ngo and unknown amounts to other senior officials has triggered calls for a new probe following the near collapse of Vinalines under U.S. $3 billion of debt, the media reports said.

"I think they need to put the trial on hold and send the whole case to the prosecutors’ office to look into what Pham Quy Ngo said [on the issue]," a Vietnamese lawyer, Tran Vu Hai, told RFA's Vietnamese Service as he analyzed the media reports, which had described Dung's revelations as "shocking."

Dung made the charges in a Hanoi court during the trial of his brother Duong Tu Trong, a former senior police official in the northern port of Hai Phong, who was on Wednesday sentenced to 18 years in prison for aiding his escape.

The high-level bribery claims are surely to cause further embarrassment to the Communist Party leadership blamed for the mismanagement of state-owned enterprises, which are responsible for some two-thirds of the country’s economic capital and assets.

Dung, who was last month sentenced to death for embezzlement, fled the country when Vinalines was on the verge of collapse but was arrested in September 2012 in Cambodia and deported home.

Appearing at Tuesday's hearing for his brother, who allegedly led a group that helped Dung flee from Vietnam to avoid arrest, the former Vinalines head said that Ngo had phoned him in May 2012, informing him that he had been indicted and advising him to hide for a while, state-run Tuoi Tre news website reported Wednesday.

Dung, 56, also told the court that he had offered bribes to many high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Public Security to avoid being investigated over the purchase of an old floating dock from Russia at an unusually high price in 2008, the report said.

He said that he had told Ngo about the purchase of the dock and asked him for help.

Ngo said he would help, the report said, adding that Dung gave him an envelope containing U.S. $10,000 and a bag containing U.S. $500,000 on separate occasions, according to Tuoi Tre.

In addition, Dung said that he received U.S. $1 million from a director of Ho Chih Minh City-based firm Van Thinh Phat that was later handed to Ngo in relation to a project at the Saigon Port.

Order for claims to be investigated

Hanoi judicial authorities had proposed that the court request concerned agencies to investigate Dung's allegations against Ngo which Tuoi Tre reported would be classified as "deliberate revealing of state secrets" — punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Ngo has denied the allegations, according to the VNExpress online newspaper.

Lawyer Hai told RFA said that as the trial had accepted Dung's testimony, "obviously they need to consider what he said in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code of Vietnam and to begin the process for the new case [of the alleged involvement of Pham Quy Ngo]."

"In this case, Ngo is the head of the group investigating corruption in Vinalines, so he played an important role in this investigation. We can consider this as a violation of judicial activities," Hai said, referring particularly to testimony that Ngo had tipped off Dung of his impending arrest and advised him to "hide."

"Also according to Dung, he already gave money to Ngo. If this is true, then they need to start a new case," Hai said.

However, he said Dung’s testimony alone may not be enough to indict Ngo.

"We still need more evidence to prove the testimony," he said. "Ngo has a responsibility to answer the public about the accusations."

Reported by Mac Lam for RFA's Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.

From Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD)

Bettyhill Scotland

New direction for this blog, or maybe just one more. Sutherland, North Scotland

Kedarnath

Shankaracharya samadhi swept away

Punishing rains lashed the Kedarnath temple complex and the surrounding areas all through Sunday.

Ravi Bhatt, a 34-year old priest at the eight century AD Kedarnath temple, recounts his encounter with fear, terror and death to TOI's Pankaj Doval.

Punishing rains lashed the Kedarnath temple complex and the surrounding areas all through Sunday. But at night, the downpour got fiercer. Around 8.15pm, we heard a loud bang followed by screams of terrified people. We could also hear the angry gush of the swollen Mandakini river. It was as if the mountains around us were falling apart.

I briefly stepped out of my room which is located in a complex at the back of the Kedarnath temple. I saw people running for their lives. The eighth century samadhi of Adiguru Shankaracharya couldn't withstand the nature's fury. Two statues of Shankaracharya, a sphatik linga and a Hanuman statue were swept away. What remains are just some remants of the structure. Several nearby ashrams were also washed away. We ran inside the temple complex to save ourselves. Around a dozen of us took shelter there till mid night. After that I walked to a senior priest's room located outside the compound.

The next morning was far more terrible. I came to the temple complex and saw bodies strewn all around. Some were being eaten by dogs and vultures. Every thing around the temple had been destroyed. I managed to call my family around 6.15am and tell them that I was alive. The destruction started again at 6.55am as gallons of river water began gushing down the mountains. The Mandakini was swallowing nearby areas.

People were again running around in extreme desperation. I was among the hundreds of helpless people running around, asking for help as water enveloped everything around. Many of them were just swept away or crushed under boulders hurtling down the mountains. Almost everything in the area was reduced to ruins, except the main temple structure which houses the divine Shivling. It was like witnessing a zalzala (an earthquake), or more accurately, Lord Shiva's tandava or dance of death.

I fled to a nearby double storeyed house. But when it appeared to be collapsing, I scampered towards the near by Bhairon temple. I jumped into a stream that locals call the Saraswati river. I waded through the ice-cold water for almost 2-3 minutes. At that point, I thought it all was over for me. But then, somehow I gathered strength, managed to cross the river, crossed to the other side and reached the Bhairon temple. Some good Samaritans helped me reach a helipad near the Bhairon valley where we were airlifted and rescued by an army helicopter on June 18.

Now as I recuperate in my village near Rudrapryag, which has also faced the wrath of nature, only one thought keeps hovering in my mind: "Who will take care of my Lord Shiva in the temple? Who will light the diya? Who will offer the bhog to the Lord?"

From The Time Of India

Dhondup Wangchen

Dhondup Wangchen
Transferred to Another Chinese Prison

Zurich, January 21, 2013: In an unusual move, it has been learned by Filming for Tibet that filmmaker and political prisoner Dhondup Wangchen has been transferred from Xichuan labour camp to Qinghai Provincial Women’s Prison, the main prison for women in China’s Qinghai province [1].

Following a visit to Dhondup Wangchen by close family members on January 15, 2013, Dhondup Wangchen spoke of previous harsh treatment at Xichuan labour camp, including several months of solitary confinement that started in March 2012. Although being held in improved conditions, Dhondup Wangchen and his family are unaware of the reasons for his transfer, particularly to a women’s prison with no other Tibetan inmates or political prisoners.

“Although we are relieved to hear that Dhondup Wangchen is in stable health, we share Dhondup Wangchen’s own concerns as he says he feels isolated and alone in this prison,” said Gyaljong Tsetrin, cousin of Dhondup Wangchen and President of “Filming for Tibet”. “There is still well over a year until Dhondup Wangchen will have served his 6 year sentence for making ‘Leaving Fear Behind’, it is our wish that in this time Dhondup Wangchen suffer no maltreatment and be granted access to books so that he can study, something he has repeatedly requested but has been forbidden from doing,” continued Tsetrin.

Around the world, individuals and groups have built a growing coalition for Dhondup Wangchen. In 2012, US based Committee to Protect Journalists awarded Dhondup Wangchen for his work and groups such as Amnesty International intensified campaign efforts. In the past, many Tibetan prisoners have been maltreated before release which leads to severe health problems. Dhondup Wangchen’s family hopes international awareness will prevent such problems and lead to his secure release.

Notes:
1. The details of the prison are Qinghai Provincial Women’s Prison: 青海省女子监狱：青海省西宁市城中区南山路40号，邮政编码 810000. The photo below shows the location on Google Earth.

Press Contacts:
Gyaljong Tsetrin, President of “Filming for Tibet” and close friend of Jigme Gyatso, +41764626768 (Tibetan & Chinese)
Dechen Pemba, “Filming for Tibet” spokesperson, +44 20 3286 7681 (English)

EMail: media@leavingfearbehind.com

From Filming for Tibet