Former district chief gets 30 years in jail

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court yesterday, July 19, accepted a demand by prosecutors to further increase a long prison term given to a former chairman of the District 3 People’s Committee by a lower court for bribery related to an illegal property sale in 2000.
It gave Tran Kim Long 30 years, up from the 26 given by the lower court for receiving and giving bribes and abuse of power for benefit.
This was the third time the case went to court, after the Supreme People’s Court of Appeals in HCMC once annulled an earlier verdict and ordered a fresh investigation.
In 2000 Pham Thi Tuyet Lan, a real-estate agent in Phu Nhuan District, colluded with Long, former deputy head of the Go Vap District Urban Administration Office Duong Cong Hiep, and former director and deputy director of Go Mon Real Estate Company Le Minh Chau and Ho Tung Lam, to illegally sell 10 hectares of farmland for VND16.6 billion (US$806,000).
Fearing trouble with the law, Long, Chau, and Lam contacted a real estate trader to try to bribe land authorities.

Nguyen Van Tinh, then secretary of Go Vap District Party Committee, knew about the sales and demanded VND800 million ($39,000) in hush money.

The police uncovered the scandal in 2007 and prosecuted all involved.
Long got 25 years for appropriation of property, bribery, and abuse of power.
Lan received the death sentence and Tinh, Hiep, Chau, Lam, and Hoang got 11, 18, 10, eight, and five years respectively.
But the Supreme People’s Court of Appeals overturned the verdicts six months citing violations in the investigation process. Nearly all the defendants appealed.

In June 2010, during the appeal hearing, prosecutors asked a HCMC court to sentence Long to 30 years for “receiving bribes,” “offering bribes” and “abusing power while on duty to appropriate property.”

But the court dropped the charges of “taking bribes” and sentenced Long to 26 years, and rejected all the others’ appeals.
The prosecutors appealed the verdict, asking the higher court to reimpose the charge of “taking bribes” and hand him a stiffer sentence.

Woman arrives in airport with 4 kg of meth

A 20-year-old Vietnamese woman arriving from Qatar was caught Monday night at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City with around 4 kilograms of methamphetamine.

Tran Ha Tien came on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha at around 8 pm, and customs officials found a bag containing a white substance hidden at the bottom of her suitcase.
They sent a small amount of it to the Criminal Science Institute for testing and the agency confirmed it was methamphetamine, a synthetic drug that can be smoked, snorted, or injected.
The customs has handed Tien and the contraband to the Drug Crime Investigation Department.

Robber, policeman killed in Dong Nai gunfight

A fleeing thief and a police officer who tried to apprehend him were killed in a firefight in Dong Nai Province yesterday, July 19, while a man had been shot and wounded earlier by the thief.
At around 4 pm police officers in Cam My District’s Xuan Duong commune chased after two young men who had shot a local resident and stolen his motorbike.
One of them suddenly turned around and shot at the policemen, hitting officer Ho Thong in the arm.
When they reached the Cam My roundabout, the thieves abandoned their vehicles and ran into a garden, shooting and injuring its owner Ly and taking him hostage.
When an officer, Le Thanh Tam, approached them, they shot and killed him.
Officers soon surrounded the garden and the thieves opened fire on them.
After exchanging shots for a while, the police killed one of them and seized a K59 gun from him.
He was later identified as Tran Quoc Tuan, 22, of Bien Hoa.
But the other escaped.

A police dog was brought and it sniffed out the man from under a sewer. The police used a bullhorn to call him out to surrender but he refused to come out.
At 7 pm, after officers lobbed tear gas canisters, the man came out and was arrested. He has been identified as Bui Thanh Trung, 22, also of Bien Hoa.
The man who was shot for his motorbike was Pham Thai Tuong, 44, who is being treated at the Cam My general hospital.
Tuong told Tuoi Tre: “I was riding near the Xuan Duong cemetery when two men on a motorbike came up to me and forced me to stop. One of them aimed a gun at my head and asked me to get off my vehicle. When I refused, the other man said, ‘Shoot him dead’.”
He said he was very lucky that the bullet just creased his head and an eyelid.

Vietnam set to fight drug trafficking through borders

The Party and State always give high priority to fighting HIV/AIDS, drugs and prostitution.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong made this statement at a meeting in Hanoi on July 19 to review the National Committee for HIV/AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control’s work in the first half of this year.

Delegates agreed that the HIV/AIDS, drugs and prostitution prevention remains very complicated and that the committee should disseminate more information to raise public awareness of the harmful effects of drugs, prostitution and HVI/AIDS.

Deputy Prime Minister Trong asked relevant ministries to complete the legal framework for HIV/AIDS, drugs and prostitution prevention, develop and submit a national target programme to the Government for approval.

He urged the committee to control the spread of HIV/AIDS, stop the drug trafficking across the borders and mobilise ethnic people not to plant opium trees.

Rehabilitation centres should apply the method of methadone detoxification to treat for drug-addicts and encouraged their rehabilitation at home, he added.

Firms named to handle customs

Nine enterprises were recognised as "authorised economic operators" by the Viet Nam General Department of Customs yesterday.

The enterprises will be given special preferences in customs procedures such as an exemption from inspections of detailed customs documents and goods or exemption from post-entry audits.

Enterprises will be able to perform e-customs 24 hours a day, seven days a week and pay customs tax and fees monthly through banks, among other preferences.

Preferential enterprises include three FDI companies of Japan and South Korea and six local companies working in food production, aquaculture and energy fields.

"Our export-import activities would be improved dramatically thanks to customs procedures exemptions," said Ofuchi Ryuhei, general director of Sumi Denso Viet Nam, one of nine recognised enterprises.

"Recognised as an authorised economic operator, our production activities will be speeded up after a stagnant period due to the impact of the earthquake in Japan," Ryuhei said.

Customs After Clearance Inspection Department director Pham Thanh Binh said the exemptions were an important step in reforming Customs in preparation for the sector integrating into regional and international Customs.

"The regulation would have a positive effect on export-import activities and the country's economic development as well," Binh said.

The Ministry of Finance announced regulation 63/2011/TT-BTC in May.

The regulation gives special preference in customs procedures for exporters-importers working in three categories of goods: Viet Nam purely originated aqua-agriculture products, crude oil and high-technology.

Preferences target low-risk exporters-importers who satisfy certain conditions, such as having a turnover of at least US$350million a year for normal product exporters-importers or turnover of at least $70million a year for Viet Nam original aqua-agriculture and crude oil product exporters-importers.

Exporters-importers must also have a transparent accounting system; effective business activities, banking payments and e-customs procedures; a willingness to be recognised as a preferential enterprise.

The Customs department said the regulation targeted 250 big ex-importers that have ex-import turnovers between $100-500 million.

Drug suspect stabs Binh Duong policeman

A drug suspect who tried to escape from police custody in Binh Duong Province’s Thuan An town stabbed an officer in the chest when he tried to apprehend him.
Nguyen Phuong Lam, 21, is undergoing treatment at the town general hospital’s emergency department.
At noon yesterday, July 19, the commune police took Nguyen Van Luc, 28, an important suspect in a drug trafficking case, to the hospital for treatment for a severe stomachache.
Doctors said Luc had swallowed a lot of soap, possibly in a failed effort to commit a suicide.
They cleared his bowels and put him in a separate room for further treatment with officers on guard.
At 4:30 pm, Luc told an officer he was going to the toilet but suddenly run away.
Lam chased after him but when he caught up, Luc used a neon light bulb he had picked up in the hospital to hit him and then stabbed him with a shard in the chest.
Other officers grabbed Luc and took Lam to the hospital.
Luc was later taken back to the prison.

Hospital denies leaving drink-and-drive victim to die

The medical center that allegedly ignored a road accident victim leading to his death Monday in Tien Giang province has shrugged off responsibility, writing it “told his relatives the patient is drunk and needs further follow-ups”.

In an official note sent to the provincial Department of Health on Tuesday, the Cho Gao District Medical Center admitted that the doctor on duty that day “did not have time to treat the victim”.

According to the note, 57-year old patient - Mr. Nguyen Van Hoang - was treated for injuries in the legs upon arriving at the medical center and that the doctor on shift did detect a lump on the patient’s head but failed to carry out an X-ray or CT scan.

Doctor Nguyen Van Hoang, who by chance has the same name as his patient’s, told the patient’s relatives that “the victim was drunk and just had an accident so he needs further follow-ups”.

The note claims that the center has fulfilled its mission and “it can’t be said the center ignored the patient”.

Nguyen Thanh Linh, deputy director of the local health department told Tuoi Tre that the note only expresses one side’s viewpoint and that he has ordered the center to satisfactorily settle the case.

On the afternoon of July 17, Hoang was hit by an incoming motorbike traveling in the opposite direction and taken to the center but, according to his relatives, doctors there did not examine him for one whole hour.

“They did not deliver first aid nor create a medical record for him”, Hoang’s brother Nguyen Van Tam told Tuoi Tre.

According to Tam, when asked to examine Hoang, one doctor replied “the patient had drunk [wine], so we need to follow [his development]”.

At 6pm, when no doctor came forth to the rescue, Hoang’s relatives called a taxi and took the patient over 10 km to the Tien Giang General Hospital which then transferred him to the Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

Hoang died on then morning of July 18.

Post-mortem analysis found that Hoang died of epidural hematoma, a head trauma where blood builds up against the dura mater.

Heat wave to hit northern region today

Another hot spell is likely to hit northern and central parts tomorrow, according to Le Thanh Hai, deputy director of the National Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Centre.

Over the next two days, temperatures are expected to approach 40 degrees Celsius in Ha Noi but not to exceed the record high of earlier this month.Thunder storms are likely to precede the hot weather.

Thua Thien Hue repatriates 601 sets of martyrs’ remains

The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has repatriated a total of 601 sets of remains of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers and experts from Laos during the 1994-2011 period. 

The figure was released at a July 18 meeting to review 17 years of the search for remains of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers and experts who laid down their lives during the war in Laos. 

Of the remains, only 79 sets were identified. 

During the 17-year period, the search team No. 192 conducted their work in 712 hamlets in eight districts of Salavan province and 65 hamlets in three districts of Sekong province.
On the occasion, the Thua Thien-Hue People’s Committee presented certificates of merit to Lao and Vietnamese units and individuals who have greatly contributed to the work.

Teacher soliciting sex warned, suspended

Tay Nguyen University in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak has issued a warning as well as suspended T.X.N, a lecturer of the Finance and Accounting Department, for allegedly soliciting sex from a student through cell phone messages.
The university’s disciplinary council met on Monday and concluded that such disciplinary measures were necessary because even though the police are yet to announce investigation results, the scandal has already caused damage to the school’s reputation.
Earlier, C.T.D., a senior student, lodged a complaint to relevant authorities, accusing N., who was in charge of her graduation thesis, of repeatedly texting to her cell phone to solicit sex.
D. said she had not answered any of N.’s messages, which included those that read, “Let’s go to a hotel. You will feel at ease after your first try,” “I won’t correct your thesis any more. Do it yourself!” and “This is your last chance. You must act immediately.”

D. said she decided to bring her story to light on June 22 when she received a message that set 7 pm the next day as the deadline for her to meet N. at a hotel.

In her complaint, D. also revealed that one of her classmates, H., was also asked for sex from N. but H. did not dare denounce N as she was afraid of facing difficulties in doing her thesis.
D. later provided relevant authorities with a tape recording her conversation with N. in which N. apologized to her.

N. has rejected the accusation, explaining that somebody must have used his phone and that he had apologized simply because the messages had been sent from his phone.
In a report to the university, N. said someone must have attempted to ruin his reputation.
Yet, when he talked to the press, N. said his wife might have used his cell phone to test him.

HCMC doctors remove baby’s huge lump

Ho Chi Minh City Pediatrics Hospital 2 performed a surgery to remove a huge lump from a 6-month-old baby boy on Monday.

The boy was diagnosed with Lymphangioma, a malformation of the lymphatic system, a network of vessels responsible for returning to the venous system excess fluid from tissues.

The boy was born with the huge lump on the right section of his back, and it had gone bigger as the child grew.

Ho Tran Ban, the doctor and surgeon in charge of the case, said surgery has to be delayed until Monday because of the child’s poor health and tendency to get respiratory infection.

After the 3-hour surgery, most of the lump was removed and the baby’s back was reshaped.

The baby has recovered well and gained weight, Doctor Ban said.

Phadaczen medicine taken out of circulation

The central Binh Dinh Province's Department of Health on Monday suspended Phadaczen circulation due to the medicine not meeting content standards.

Phadaczen, shaped like a pupa and produced by the Cuu Long Pharmaceutical JSC, is expected to become out of date by June 12, 2012.

The department director called on local authorities and pharmacies to refrain from distributing the medicine.

Those found in violation of new proceedings will be strictly punished according to the law.

Procter & Gamble recalls tainted mouthwashes

Procter & Gamble Vietnam has recalled two of its Oral-B mouthwashes for microbial contamination.

P&G Vietnam yesterday requested its distributors to withdraw Anti-Cavity Dental Rinse — Alcohol Free" (NPN 02129930) and Anti-Bacterial with Fluoride — Alcohol Free Daily Use Mouthrinse" (DIN 02130823) after its parent company in the US informed about their recall in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Canada.
It has also asked retailers to stop selling the products and prepare to refund consumers who bought them.
The company said the two products failed to meet microbial standards though the microbial level posed virtually no risk to healthy people.
People with severely weakened immune systems, such as those with cystic fibrosis, could however be more susceptible, it said.
The two products are on sale at many shops at VND45,000-47,000 for a 350-ml bottle.
But many Co.opMart and Big C supermarket outlets told the media that they no longer sold them.

For further information, consumers can contact P&G Vietnam by calling 0838225721 or 0838227265 during business hours.

Traffic accidents kill 30 a day throughout Vietnam

Traffic accidents kill an average of 30 people every day in Vietnam, according to the latest figures released by the National Committee for Traffic Safety.

The report, which covered the first half of the year, showed that 90 percent of traffic accidents were caused by human error and 2 percent because of infrastructure problems. Forty-seven percent of the accidents involved people aged 20-29.

“The city’s People’s Committee has asked all 24 districts to take measures to reduce the number of accidents,” said Le Hoang Quan, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City ’s People Committee.

Since the beginning of this year, 520 traffic accidents in HCM City have killed 443 people and injured 283 others, with an average of 2.3 person dying each day.

“The number of serious accidents has sharply increased in comparison with the same period last year. Most accidents occur from 7pm to 2am, and most victims are young people,” said Sr. Lt Col. Ngo Minh Chau, deputy director of the city’s Public Security Department.

“Traffic police should increase patrols a night and add more equipment like alcohol concentration and speed-indictator device. The Transport Department must fix all unsafe equipment speedily, and authorities should raise public awareness about traffic responsibility,” Quan said.

Roads where accidents frequently occur will be closely watched, and control by traffic police will be strengthened to discover vehicles, including autos and boats, that are too old and not permitted to operate under current law.

A basic survey to discover how students, young workers and residents follow traffic laws will be carried out.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre