Vietnam put on trial two reporters yesterday who helped expose state corruption in a case seen as a test of media freedoms in the country.
The two campaigning newspaper journalists each face up to seven years in prison on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state” in the two-day hearing in the Hanoi People’s Court.
They helped expose a major graft scandal in a transport ministry unit known as PMU 18, where officials pilfered development funds meant for roads and bridges and bet much of the money on European soccer.
PHOTO: AP
The unusually aggressive reporting in a country where all media and the courts remain under the control of the one-party communist state was praised by foreign observers and spurred state promises of a major anti-corruption drive.
The scandal led to the resignation in 2006 of then transport minister Dao Dinh Binh and the arrest of his deputy, Nguyen Viet Tien, while eight PMU 18 officials were jailed last year for illegal gambling and corruption.
The case, however, took an unexpected turn when Tien was freed from prison last October and cleared of all charges in March.
In May police arrested the two journalists — Nguyen Van Hai of the Tuoi Tre daily and Nguyen Viet Chien of the Thanh Nien newspaper — initially accusing them of “abuse of power.”
On trial with them are two senior police officers accused of feeding them information, General Pham Xuan Quac and Senior Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Van Huynh, who also face up to seven years in jail.
The arrests have sent a chill through the Vietnamese media, which initially protested in strongly worded editorials but, following stern warnings from the authorities, fell silent after two days.
Police also interrogated other journalists at the two leading dailies, where senior editorial staff have since been replaced.
The Ministry of Information and Communication two months ago withdrew the press credentials of four journalists accused of publishing false information about the case or defending their detained colleagues.
Foreign diplomats and media have been told they will be allowed to follow the journalists’ trial via closed-circuit TV.
Media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders has labeled the trial the state’s “revenge” against two “daring journalists who revealed embarrassing cases and brought greater freedom to the Vietnamese press.”
The group said that while some corrupt officials “have benefited from a certain leniency, journalists are now being put in the dock.
“It is an insult to justice. The trial is at the epicentre of an earthquake that has destroyed the still fragile basis of a more independent press, wanting to play its role of challenging established authority,” the Paris-based organization said in a statement.
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