Mr. Nguyen Duc Chung appeared in court
Former Hanoi Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung and three accomplices will appear in court on charges of leaking confidential information and documents related to the Nhat Cuong case on December 11.
The first instance trial is scheduled to be held behind closed doors for one day at the Hanoi People's Court. Judge Truong Viet Toan will preside. The representatives of the Procuracy holding the right to prosecute are Khuat Huu Anh and Do Minh Tuan.
Former Hanoi Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung and Pham Quang Dung (former officers of the Department of Police Investigation of Economic Crimes, Corruption, and Smuggling - C03, Ministry of Public Security) were prosecuted for 10-15 years in prison for the crime ofAppropriation of state secret documents,according to Clause 3, Article 337 of the 2015 Penal Code.
Nguyen Hoang Trung (Mr. Chung's driver) and Nguyen Anh Ngoc (46 years old, former officer of the Hanoi People's Committee Office) were tried for the same crime; the penalty is 2-7 years in prison. Trung is a former officer of the Hanoi Police, assigned to work at the Editorial Secretary Office, Hanoi People's Committee Office; Ngoc is a former Deputy Chief of Cau Giay District Police, assigned to work at the Hanoi People's Committee Office.
Mr. Chung was identified as the mastermind, Dung as the executor, Trung and Ngoc as assistants. Mr. Chung invited 4 lawyers to defend him, the remaining 3 defendants each had a lawyer.
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| Mr. Nguyen Duc Chung was the former Director of Hanoi Police. Photo: Vo Hai. |
According to the indictment, Mr. Chung and his wife are people with related rights and obligations in the Nhat Cuong Company case - a major case under the supervision and direction of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption. Mr. Chung knew that Dung was recruited to participate in the investigation of this case, so he asked him to collect and "gain information about the direction of the investigation".
From July 2019 to June 2020, Dung took advantage of being recruited to assist in the investigation to repeatedly obtain information and documents. Dung transferred them to Mr. Chung in three ways: through driver Trung to provide paper documents, using the Viber application to transfer photo files of documents or calling Viber to exchange information.
With 5 times of appropriating 9 confidential documents in the Nhat Cuong case, Dung transferred 6 confidential documents to Mr. Chung twice. Once, Dung broke into the room of a C03 department head with a stolen key to take pictures of 26 pages of three sets of documents, and transferred all of them to Mr. Chung through driver Trung.
Trung and Ngoc Anh were accused of participating in printing and editing three confidential documents for Mr. Chung.
During the 2020 Lunar New Year, Dung received 10,000 USD from Mr. Chung, through Trung. The Security Investigation Agency is separating this act and signs of property theft from Dung for later handling.
Lawyer Truong Anh Tu said that Article 103 of the 2013 Constitution stipulates that the People's Court shall conduct trials in public. In special cases where it is necessary to maintain state secrets, preserve national traditions and customs, or protect minors, the court may conduct trials in private.
Article 25 of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code allows that in special cases where state secrets need to be kept, the court can hold a closed trial but must pronounce the verdict publicly.
