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A former Vietnamese Minister of Information and Communications was sentenced to life in prison on Saturday December 28 for receiving $ 3.2 million in bribes. A symbolic judgment which is part of the anti-corruption campaign launched in 2012 by the country's communist authorities
The Nguyen Bac Son trial caught the attention of the nation. The former Vietnamese Minister of Information and Communications, who was once a prominent figure in the Communist politburo , was sentenced to life in prison for receiving bribes from the telecommunications company Mobifone.
He was tried for obtaining $ 3.2 million to agree to the purchase of a private television company. In the end, the unsuccessful operation cost the Vietnamese government $ 300 million. The former minister risked capital punishment but the reimbursement of the 300 million allowed him to escape it.
Vietnam remains one of the most corrupt countries in Asia
His case in the regime is not unique. In 2018, Dinh La Thang, the party's local secretary in Ho Chi Minh City, was the first senior official to be swept away by the government's anti-corruption campaign.
While Vietnam remains one of the most corrupt countries in Asia, the operation is targeting, for the moment, former major political figures. A way for President Nguyen Phú Trọng to consolidate his power and clean up the ranks of the single party, giving, for many, an image of political purge to this anti-corruption campaign.