The appeal court of the Supreme People’s Court on August 30 upheld a jail term of 20 years handed down at the trial in March 2012 for former Chairman of the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) Pham Thanh Binh who was found guilty of intentionally violating State regulations.
The court rejected all appeals made by Binh and seven other defendants, and did not reduce any of the jail terms. According to a representative of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the defendants though holding important positions in Vinashin and its affiliates intentionally violated legal and State regulations on economic management.
Their offence is extremely serious, the representative said. These defendants have to compensate a total amount of more than 1.1 trillion VND (52 million USD).
According to the indictment, Binh and his accomplices abused their rights and violated State laws and regulations on investment, management and use of State capital in the purchase of the Hoa Sen Ship, the Red River thermal power plant project in Nam Dinh province, the Cai Lan diesel thermal power plant in Quang Ninh province, the investment project of Binh Dinh Star Ship, and the sale of the Bach Dang Giang Vessel.
All these violations caused a total loss to the State budget of hundreds of billions of dong as well as negative impact on the shipping industry and the production and the life of thousands of workers, and eroded confidence within society in general.-VNA
