The family currently has “a defendant Long with many illnesses”
On the afternoon of January 8, after the representative of the Hanoi People’s Procuracy raised the opinion of impeachment and proposed sentences for the defendants in the Viet A trial, including former Minister Nguyen Thanh Long, the laws The lawyer performed the defense of his client in court.
As for Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long, the Procuracy recommended a sentence of 19 to 20 years in prison for the crime of “Receiving bribes”. Mr. Long was convicted of receiving 2.25 million USD from Phan Quoc Viet – Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Viet A Company when committing many violations to help this company. The former Minister of Health appeared in court with three defense lawyers.
Defending his client, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long’s lawyer presented that based on the context and time of receiving the money, it could be said that Mr. Long did not suggest giving the money. According to the lawyer, the prosecution alleged that Mr. Long, through Nguyen Huynh – Mr. Long’s former secretary, suggested that Phan Quoc Viet give money.
Mr. Long was accused of receiving money from Vietnam for the first time in 2020, the last time was in 2021. The lawyer said that “no one intended to suggest receiving money after a whole year”, which is unreasonable in terms of time.
The lawyer also said that Viet A Company’s test was issued 2 months late according to regulations; At that time, the Ministry of Health also issued 169 different tests to create competition.
According to the defense lawyer for former Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, he is currently experiencing many health problems. Photo: DV
The lawyer commented that the impact of former Minister Nguyen Thanh Long’s assistance on Viet A Company is not really clear. My clients are impartial, not self-interested; Viet gives money after 1 year as a thank you. If Mr. Long requests it, it must be near the time of price negotiation or before.
Continuing to defend, one of Mr. Long’s three lawyers stated that Mr. Long’s family has recovered all the damages caused by him being determined to receive bribes; During the investigation, prosecution or trial, they all show remorse and repentance.
Regarding Mr. Long’s personal identity, the lawyer believes that he has had exceptionally excellent achievements and made significant contributions to the industry.
In the fight against the epidemic, he is the Head of the Steering Committee of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign, which has quickly turned Vietnam into one of the countries with high vaccine coverage rates. According to the lawyer, Mr. Long sacrificed many things (sweat, tears, time with his family…) to make those significant contributions.
“Before the epidemic, the family had a Professor Long. After the epidemic, the family had a defendant Long with many illnesses” – Mr. Long’s lawyer said.
In his defense, former Minister Nguyen Thanh Long’s lawyer also informed that his left eye has lost all vision; Mr. Long could even suddenly die at any time due to sleep apnea…
According to the defense lawyer of the former Minister of Health, the lawyer received applications from more than 140 close colleagues, including more than 40 professors, asking to reduce Mr. Long’s sentence, along with Dozens of Mr. Long’s students currently working in the medical field also asked for relief from the former Minister.
Another lawyer defending Mr. Long stated that it is necessary to review the proposal to continue to distrain Mr. Long’s assets to ensure the enforcement of the judgment. According to this lawyer, there are enough grounds to cancel the two orders to distrain assets with the former Minister because Mr. Long has overcome all the consequences.
On the other hand, aware of his violation and to further demonstrate the spirit of overcoming the consequences, Mr. Long approved and influenced his family to pay an additional 100 million VND to the account of the enforcement agency. to overcome the additional penalty (if any).
In the end, the lawyers all shared the same opinion and asked the jury to give the former Minister of Health a lighter sentence than the Procuracy’s proposal.
Lawyers wonder whose products Viet A Company belongs to?
Defending former Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh, this defendant’s lawyer said that defendant Chu Ngoc Anh admitted his violations, agreed with the indictment of the Procuracy as well as the judge. impeachment point.
Mr. Ngoc Anh was recommended 3 to 4 years in prison for the crime of “Violating regulations on management and use of state assets causing loss and waste”.
Defendant Chu Ngoc Anh’s lawyer asked the jury to consider and comprehensively evaluate his client’s violations. Mr. Ngoc Anh is accused of signing Decision No. 188 dated February 6, 2020, approving the assignment of the Military Medical Academy to preside, and Viet A Company to coordinate in implementing the research and test manufacturing project (abbreviated as Project). funding), the implementation budget of 19.98 billion VND from the State budget is contrary to the provisions of Article 26 of the Law on Science and Technology.
Defending his client, the lawyer of former Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh said that his client was aware of his responsibility and hoped the jury would consider a sentence of detention. Photo: SGGP
Defending his client on this content, Mr. Ngoc Anh’s lawyer analyzed the context of the document’s issuance. According to the lawyer, on January 31, 2020, WHO declared a global health emergency regarding the Corona epidemic; In Vietnam, the Prime Minister also decided to announce the epidemic.
Faced with this development, Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh promptly discussed and organized a meeting with scientists on January 30, 2020 to hear opinions. On January 31, 2020, Decision 144 was issued, which determined investment and research on test kits. This was followed by two other decisions, the final one being decision 188.
After implementing the initial decisions, the Project was assigned back to Deputy Minister Pham Cong Tac and relevant management departments for implementation. The defense lawyer said that there was no violation of the decision of Article 26 of the Law on Science and Technology here.
Analyzing the accusation that Viet A Company put tests into commercial production without regulations, Mr. Ngoc Anh’s lawyer said that Mr. Ngoc Anh himself had told the court that the topic only stopped at the research stage. process, is not responsible for commercial production, Viet A Company’s commercial production is outside the scope of the Project.
The defense attorney for Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh also expressed concern whether the test product of Viet A Company was a product of Project or a product of Viet A Company. Photo: NLD
On the other hand, the project is under the management of the Military Medical Academy because it has not been handed over to the Ministry of Science and Technology. The responsibility according to the lawyer is primarily that of the Military Medical Academy.
Continuing to defend, the lawyer raised his opinion about whether defendant Chu Ngoc Anh was aware that Topic’s products were being appropriated and brought to market by Viet A Company.
According to the lawyer, scientific and technological research is a special field, researchers still keep secrets from each other, encrypt documents so that no one knows, so it is not easy to know that this is the product of the Project. or of Viet A Company, products of Viet A Company are of good topics of Viet A Company.
The lawyer cited that up to this point, the Ministry of Science and Technology has not issued a document recognizing the acceptance results of the Project. The lawyer also hopes that the Procuracy will review this content, and at the same time asked the jury to consider whose products Viet A Company belongs to.
Finally, defense lawyer for Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh presented that his client was aware of his responsibility and hoped the jury would consider a sentence of detention.
In another development this afternoon, defending defendant Nguyen Van Trinh – former assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister, lawyer Tran Xuan Long said that it is necessary to consider and consider a number of issues with his client.
Lawyer Long said that defendant Trinh worked for nearly 30 years in a state agency, of which 24 years were a secretary, assistant, or assistant to Government leaders; The defendant is a person with a good character and a high sense of responsibility at work. If given the opportunity to return to society soon, even if he cannot continue working in state agencies, he will still contribute to society. association through their experiences.
In the case, the lawyer presented that his client had submitted an 11-page confession application, confessed honestly, and actively cooperated with the investigation agency. Along with that, defendant Trinh was very conscious of overcoming the consequences and soon influenced his family to recover the entire amount of money received.
Defendant Trinh’s lawyer also said that Trinh is the breadwinner and main worker in the family, and asked the jury to apply additional mitigating circumstances to reduce the penalty for the former assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister.
