Trinh Xuan Thanh and the defendants expressed remorse and asked for leniency.

After defendant Dinh La Thang, this morning (January 17), the defendants in the case of Intentionally violating State regulations on economic management causing serious consequences and Embezzlement of assets occurring at the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) and the Vietnam Oil and Gas Construction Joint Stock Corporation (PVC) continued to have their final words before the court deliberated.

Defendant Trinh Xuan Thanh - former Chairman of the Board of Directors of PVC reiterated the proposed sentence for him as life imprisonment and once again asked the panel of judges to consider more evidence and circumstances. The defendant expressed remorse and wanted to apologize to the leaders of the Party, State and people.

Defendant Phung Dinh Thuc - former General Director of PVN emphasized that in the general management of the group, he always handled work openly and transparently, did not participate in group interests, did not favor anyone or any program, did not discuss privately with superiors or give private instructions to subordinates. "This is the defendant's management style during the time he managed PVN and the Thai Binh 2 project" - Mr. Thuc said.

Once again, the defendant Thuc also argued that the evidence at the investigation agency as well as the additional evidence at the trial was enough to prove that he did not intentionally violate the law. In his mind, the defendant always kept in mind what was right and what was wrong, so in his actions he never saw anything wrong and did it, bringing many results to the group. However, in his role as CEO, with a clear division of authority, there was negligence in inspection and supervision. Therefore, the defendant requested the panel of judges to consider comprehensively, evaluate correctly and sufficiently the evidence of the accusation, the evidence of exoneration, and individualize the behavior for fair handling.

“Thank you to the officials and generations of workers in the oil and gas industry for sharing and trusting the defendant in the past days, even in this difficult situation,” Mr. Thuc shared.

The next defendant to speak was Nguyen Quoc Khanh - former Deputy General Director of PVN. In his leadership role, Mr. Khanh accepted responsibility for the mistakes that had occurred. He also apologized to the Party, the Government, the National Assembly, especially the oil and gas industry workers, his family, friends and relatives. "The defendant deeply regrets the violations that occurred" - Mr. Khanh said and once again claimed that he had failed to check and supervise his subordinates, not for personal gain to infringe upon state assets.

"The defendant is very sorry and remorseful, and respectfully requests that the panel of judges consider helping the defendant enjoy a lenient policy so that he can soon rebuild his life and become a useful person to society" - defendant Nguyen Quoc Khanh requested and expressed his wish to change the form of prevention from temporary detention to prohibition from leaving the place of residence to have the opportunity to treat his health and have Tet with his relatives.

Defendant Nguyen Xuan Son - former Deputy General Director of PVN, said that although he did not violate the procedures and regulations, there were errors in the project implementation chain. The defendant honestly admitted his shortcomings, although he performed his responsibilities fairly for the common good, it still caused consequences for the group's leaders./.