Defendant Trinh Xuan Thanh, former Chairman of the PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corporation (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The HanoiPeople’s Court announced on April 27 that an appeal trial will open on May 7 forTrinh Xuan Thanh, former Chairman of the PetroVietnam Construction Joint StockCorporation (PVC); Dinh La Thang, former Chairman of the Member Council of theVietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and their accomplices in the PVC case.
The trial is expected to lastbetween 6 and 8 days, said the Hanoi People’s Court.
By April 27, 15 out of 22defendants have lodged their appeals. Of whom, Trinh Xuan Thanh, Dinh La Thang,and PetroVietnam’s former General Director Phung Dinh Thuc insisted on theirinnocence. Other defendants appealed for more lenient sentences and compensationagainst the first-instance verdicts handed down by the Hanoi People’s Court on January22.
The upcoming appeal court willsee the presence of the 15 defendants and three others, who make no appeal butare recalled as deponents. Of the defendants, 12 have been still held in custody.At the moment, the number of lawyers defending the appellants has amounted to29.
At the first-instance trial onJanuary 22, Trinh Xuan Thanh got a life sentence on the charge of “assetembezzlement” and 14 years in jail for “deliberately violating Stateregulations on economic management, causing severe consequences”. The combinedpenalty for both counts was life imprisonment.
Also charged with “deliberatelyviolating State regulations on economic management, causing severeconsequences”, Dinh La Thang was given 13 years, while Phung Dinh Thuc wassentenced to 9 years in jail.-VNA
VNA
