4 hopes after the trial of Mr. Dinh La Thang

The first instance trial of defendant Dinh La Thang and his accomplices ended after more than 10 days of trial, attracting special attention from the media and society. DefendantDinh La Thang was sentenced to 13 years in prison for intentionally violating state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences.Defendant Trinh Xuan Thanh was sentenced to 14 years in prison for Intentional Violation and life in prison for Embezzlement. The total sentence is life in prison.

Although this is not the final verdict, although the debate about merits and demerits has not yet subsided, this special trial has truly left something to ponder. Among them, there is also hope.

The bitter experiences of Mr. Dinh La Thang in the cramped, dim, cold prison cell, the late tears of Trinh Xuan Thanh and many other defendants in this trial are like a warning to everyone, especially to those who are in power but arbitrarily disregard discipline and the law of the country.

From the pinnacle of fame to the abyss of ruin, that distance is very short if each cadre and party member "does not regularly self-reflect, self-correct, self-admonish, stay away from material temptations and ambitions, avoid making the same mistakes, get their hands dirty, and if they have already gotten their hands dirty, quickly and voluntarily wash themselves clean" as General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong once pointed out.

People do not want to see their “public servants” lined up in the middle of the street, not expecting to receive apologies. They just wish that there would be no such trials.That is the first hope.

Defendant Dinh La Thang and his accomplices were brought to trial for “Intentionally violating State regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences” and “embezzlement of property”. We cannot blame the mechanism, we cannot justify haste and subjectivity. Hundreds of billions, thousands of billions just flew out the window, and now, the country, which was already not rich, is at risk of becoming poorer.

What can we call this behavior if not the degeneration of power? This issue has been warned since the 12th Party Congress that “power, if not controlled, will inevitably lead to degeneration”. The mistakes of Mr. Thang, Mr. Thanh and many other “fresh wood and dry wood” show that power must be tightly controlled, otherwise it will be too late.

How happy that for the first time, the Central Organizing Committee has presented a draft on power control in the first days of 2018. Power will be better controlled. That is the second hope.

Defendants Dinh La Thang and Trinh Xuan Thanh saw a dark future ahead of them as their crimes were brought to trial one after another, seeing a bleak prospect of not knowing when they would be able to become “free ghosts”. Their predictions were correct. Once in court, the people and the officials are the same, there can be no “laws for the people”, “officials for the rules”, and there is no such thing as “lifting high and hitting lightly” with officials, or being harsh with the people.

Therefore, Mr. Thang’s last wish to be released on bail to “celebrate Tet with his family” or Trinh Xuan Thanh’s wish to “go to Germany with his wife to take care of their children”… is impossible. Strict law can consider merit and crime, can use mitigating circumstances as the basis for sentencing, but there is absolutely no room for leniency in the form of “asking-giving”. Let justice speak. That is the third hope.

During more than 10 days of trial, while the court was “hot” with debates, on all the online forums, there were “hot” debates about the merits and crimes of Mr. Dinh La Thang. There were even calls like “10 million signatures for Mr. Thang to be acquitted”.

Vietnamese people are inherently tolerant and generous. They beat someone who runs away, but never beat someone who runs back. Vietnamese people also have a tradition of being sentimental, “a hundred reasons are not worth a little bit of sentiment”. That is why they have such simple thinking.

But, let's learn again the heartfelt words of former President Truong Tan Sang in his article on the occasion of the New Year 2018. Read to ponder: "Isn't it true that the people and each party member have always been indignant and angry at corruption and degradation? Haven't we witnessed people with bottomless greed taking advantage of policy loopholes, abusing power to pick the people's pockets, and then those people and their gangs find every way to "crawl deeper and climb higher" to ensure that the stolen assets continue to grow and flourish?"

Some people say that the late repentance of the once-famous defendants is like a “collective performance”, but that is not necessarily the case. Everything that belongs to “humanity” deserves respect. Even if you are a murderer, your family is still your final destination, your most peaceful refuge.

It is a pity that, in the cruel cycle of life, amidst the hustle and bustle of worries and calculations, family often becomes a very vague concept. Only when “the knees are tired, the legs are weak”, until “falling into trouble”, do people think of “old father, foolish children”, “foolish wife, young children”.

This is a reasonable and just verdict, taking into account the defendants' merits and crimes, demonstrating both the strictness and tolerance of the law, giving the defendants the opportunity to reflect and correct their mistakes.

The small tears in the middle of the court are like a moment of silence for us to reflect. How can this verdict be a warning not only to Mr. Dinh La Thang and his accomplices; How can the process of investigation, prosecution, trial, and debate in court help us see the loopholes in the law, the system,... in order to find ways to mend them, so as not to have to painfully see another Dinh La Thang, Trinh Xuan Thanh. Reflect to appreciate more the most ordinary and closest things. That is the last hope./.