Man gets five years in jail for slandering VN

In a verdicthanded down yesterday, June 6, by the People's Court of the central province of Ninh Thuan, Phan Ngoc Tuan, 53, of Phuoc My Ward in the provincial city of Phan Rang-Thap Cham has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for slandering the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

Tuan was also ordered to hand over to public funds more than VND2 million ($100) which he had received from various reactionary organisations to enable him to conduct anti-Government activities.

During the trial, due to Tuan's refusal to speak or acknowledge his crimes, the judge decided to bypass the interrogation and read aloud Tuan's statement made during his detainment by police at 10am on January 3, 2012. In that statement, he admitted distributing anti-Government leaflets accusing the Vietnamese authorities of suppressing religion and isolating siblings of people who had served in the Sai Gon regime. He said that all of the anti-Government documents had been photocopied in the city of Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa Province and then transported back to Phan Rang-Thap Cham, as well as to HCM City and some localities in Ha Noi for circulation.

Tuan admitted that his son Phan Nguyen Ngoc Tu, 24, was his accomplice, helping him post anti-Government leaflets and video clips on the internet and maintain contact with reactionaries living abroad to support his anti-Government activities, including Doan Viet Trung in Australia and Nguyen Thi Hien in the US. Nguyen Cong Chinh, a Protestant from Gia Lai Province in the Central Highlands, was also named as an accomplice.

Tuan was arrested by Ninh Thuan police on August 10, 2011.

TLC's premiere of documentary of 200lb tumor man

TLC (The Learning Channel), an American cable TV specialty channel, is screening the 60-minute documentary about Nguyen Duy Hai called “The Main with the 200lb Tumor, who had his 200lb (90.7kg) tumor removed at FV hospital based in Ho Chi Minh City in January.

The film was produced by US-based Morning Star Entertainment and directed by Andrew Nock, who along with cameraman Michael Ojeda and soundman Joe Egan traveled to Vietnam three times between November 2011 and January 2012 to create the story of Hai’s life.

Morning Star Entertainment used some footage provided by Tuoi Tre Newspaper for the film.

“In Vietnam, 31-year-old Nguyen Duy Hai is dying from the world’s largest tumor. Follow the amazing story as American Dr. McKay McKinnon journeys to Ho Chi Minh City in an attempt to remove the tumor, and save the life of this extraordinary man,” a postcard for the film proclaims.

* The documentary film is aired at 10p.m. on June 6 (New York Time), 9a.m. on June 7, (Vietnam Time).

Illegal drug traffickers caught at border

Quang Tri Border Guards dismantled a drug trafficking network between Laos and Viet Nam and confiscated 10,000 narcotics pills on Tuesday.

The Border Guards, co-operating with the Security Department of Laos' s Savannakhet province, arrested four traffickers on their way across the Viet Nam-Laos border.

The traffickers bought the drug in a Lao province and transported it on a pickup truck to get through Lao Bao Border Gate.
Quang Tri Border Guards have handed the suspects over to the Security Department of Savannakhet province to continue investigating the case.

With daughter trapped in China, man goes to police

After marrying his daughter to a Chinese, a man is now asking Vietnamese police to rescue her from a husband who has swiped her passport and forced her to do manual labor.

Ly Thi Dao, 20, told her father in a telephone call that her new husband in China demanded VND150 million (US$7,200) to send her back to Vietnam, according to a police report.

The father, 52-year-old Ly Van Tu, filed the formal appeal with police in southern Bac Lieu Province.

“My family is poor, so I have to resort to the authorities’ intervention to bring my daughter home,” Tu said.

He said that brokers who had arranged the marriage three months ago are now requiring VND30 million ($1,440) to bring his daughter back.

Dao, who is stranded now that her husband has stripped her of a mobile phone and travel document, reportedly escaped to a police station in China. But her family was unable to step in before the husband forced Dao back home.

Still, she managed to get the message to them that the marriage, which originally brought the family VND12 million ($575), has turned out to be an excuse for backbreaking labor. In one instance, she had to climb a mountain to gather and transport firewood.

Two months after arriving in China, Dao lost touch with her family in Xom Lam Hamlet, Hiep Thanh Commune, Bac Lieu City.

Tay Ninh to get border bridge

Southern Tay Ninh Province is to build a bridge over the Vam Co Dong River, linking Viet Nam with Cambodia.

The Mon Chay bridge was to be located at Marker 131, connecting Tan Bien district with Cambodian Prey Veng Province, about 120km east from Phnom Penh City.

People's Committee chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy told an online meeting of border districts on Tuesday the bridge would boost trade between the countries.

Districts in the online link were Tan Bien, Tan Chau and Chau Thanh.

Tay Ninh Department of Transport calculated a concrete bridge would cost VND20 billion ($850,000) and a connecting road would cost the same amount.

Thuy said a border market was being built in Tan Phu commune, on road 791, about 10km from the bridge, to facilitate trading.
Former official gets 4 years for false allegations, incitement

The former head of the citizen reception office of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province People’s Committee has been sentenced to four years in prison for lodging false accusations against high-ranking State officials and provoking others to act against the authorities.

The provincial People’s Court yesterday handed down the verdict on 55-year-old Nguyen Van Tuan, of Ward 4, Vung Tau City, who was charged with “taking advantage of rights to democracy and freedom to infringe on State interests and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and citizens.”

Tuan was arrested in October 2011 after being removed from his post and expelled from the Communist Party of Vietnam.

According to the indictment, between 2007 and his arrest, Tuan had filed false accusations against many State officials. In those accusation letters, he slandered a number of leaders of both local and central governments.

He also disseminated to local residents many documents and materials related to land compensation with an aim to provoke them to file wrongful complaints against the authorities.

The court concluded that Tuan had taken advantage of citizens’ right to make complaints and denunciation to incite others to make wrongful allegations.

He had been warned by competent agencies for his wrongdoings but he continued his offenses until he was detained, the court said.

Fines for petrol station cheats

Seven petrol stations and two liquefied petroleum gas shops in northern Bac Giang Province have been fined or had their licences revoked for business violations.

An inspection blitz on the fuel stations uncovered faulty measures and no certificates in fire prevention and fighting and environmental protection.

Others were operating without posting a notice of prices and working hours while LPG shops violated regulations on price lists and the sale of LPG bottles outside contracts.

Meanwhile, the provincial People's Committee fined a petrol station VND100 million ($4,760) for selling low quality fuel. The station, Doi Nen, had its trading licence withdrawn for 12 months.

According to local press, customers had returned petrol they bought at the station because of its low quality and the municipal authority was notified.

A subsequent investigation showed 10,300 litres of petrol had been tampered with and was of poor quality.

The station was found to have sold low-quality or smuggled gasoline which it had acquired without invoices.

Boats bring unwelcome coal to families near river

Charcoal dust is polluting the furniture, utensils, and walls of at least 400 homes along the Saigon River in Ho Chi Minh City.
For the past several days, the unwanted byproduct has come as boats deliver charcoal to barges, spilling some of the black dust onto the water. From there, winds easily pick up the light particles and scatter them across houses in Binh Loi Hamlet, Thanh My Loi Ward, District 2.

Mai Van Cu, director of the Tan Thuan 2 Port, said reckless workers dropped a large amount of charcoal power into the river as they transported it the barges from a boat that is still in the port.

He said he requested that courier and receiver suspend their work and seek less polluting means of transport.

Many families living near the Saigon River have complained to Tuoi Tre about coughing, eye irritation, and other health problems they have suffered from the charcoal dust.

Nguyen Xuan Hung, chairman of the Thanh My Loi Ward People’s Committee, said yesterday he has reported the incident to the district’s Natural Resources and Environment Office.

Bui Hoang Long, head of the legislation department of the HCMC Maritime Administration, said his agency would examine the case and seek measures to deal with it.

Below are some other photographs taken by Tuoi Tre about the pollution.

Milk factory fails inspection

The anti-counterfeit team of Ha Noi Economic Police inspected a production factory of Ba Vi Milk JSC in Chuong My District and found samples of low-quality fresh milk in stock on Tuesday.

The company was also found to be using a similar logo with another well-known milk brand in Ba Vi District. The company director conceded the brand name has not been authorised by the People's Committee of Ba Vi.

The authority banned Ba Vi Milk JSC from producing and selling three of their cow and goat milk products.

Meanwhile in central Quang Ngai province, the Market Management Department confiscated a large amount of Ensure milk with false labels at Queen Media JSC. The cans, originally labelled yellow, were replaced with blue.

Sacombank sued over $48mln inheritance dispute

T.V.Ph, a sibling of billionaire T.K.P., has filed a lawsuit against Sacombank to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court.

The case related to safe lease contract between Ph. and T.H.H.L., adopted daughter of Mrs. P., with the bank on May 28, 2012, before the time the contract ends.

The adoptive daughter and T.V.Ph, representative for P’s siblings, had previously signed an agreement that all of the jewelry and valuable papers, worth up to VND1 trillion, left in the safe would continue to be sealed off in another safe at Sacombank.

Under the contract, the safe can only be opened with consensus from both parties.

If there are any disputes, the final decision for the opening of the safe will be given by state authorities or the judgment of the court.

The contract lasts for one year and can be renewed.

One month before the lease expired, Ph. sent a document to the bank to ask for the offering to extend the lease for one year and advanced the leasing fee.

However, on April 10, the bank announced that it would open the safe and return the assets within the next 90 days.

Then, on May 23, the bank continued to announce its unilateral action, opening the safe for asset disposal.

“The act without my consent has violated the safety and security of client assets,” Ph. claimed.

After the meeting between the three parties on May 30, they have yet come to an agreement, Sacombank continued its unilateral act and transferred all assets in the safe to H.L.

Vietnam attends world health leaders’ forum in US

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien has attended the Ministerial Health Leaders’ Forum held by Harvard University in Massachusetts, the US, from June 3-6.

The first ever Harvard Ministerial Health Leaders’ Forum aims to foster the effectiveness of health ministers when developing and improving sustainable health and care services.

At the forum, Minister Tien was among 15 health ministers from Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America to be nominated as 2012 Harvard Health Leaders.

They were selected for their innovative ideas and determination to bring health reform policies to life, helping to improve people’s health.

Earlier, from June 1-3, Minister Tien met with Harvard and Boston Universities to discuss training for health workers in Vietnam.
She also held a meeting with several US businesses, which are already established in Vietnam, about public-private partnerships in the health care sector.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre