Vietnam Godfather makes final appeal
Vietnam's Court of Appeal has begun hearing appeal submissions from more than 71 defendants who were convicted in the
country's biggest ever corruption trial.
The appeals include those of Truong Van Cam, also known as Nam Cam (Fifth Orange), who was sentenced to death in June for
crimes that included murder and bribing state officials to protect his vast crime network. He was tried along with more than 150
co-defendants, including Vietnamese officials who profited from his illicit dealings.
Among them are the former head of state radio who had been a member of the Communist Party's powerful central committee, a
disgraced deputy chief prosecutor and a former deputy police minister. In his appeal, Nam Cam has denied ordering the October
2000 killing of a rival, Dung Ha, who controlled a vast crime network in northern Vietnam.
"At first I admitted my responsibility for the murder of Dung Ha because my lawyer said I could then be eligible for clemency," he
told the VnExpress online newspaper. "But I think the death penalty handed to me is unjust and so I am appealing." Nam Cam's
appeal is expected to be rejected by the court as the authorities want to appear tough on corruption, observers say.
Two-month hearing
Some 35 witnesses are due to be called to depose in court proceedings which are barred to the international media, AFP news
agency reports. Around 200 people gathered in the court room, most of them relatives of the defendants, surrounded by 300 police,
according to a Vietnamese journalist covering the trial. The hearing of Nam Cam's appeal and of that of his 70-odd co-defendants is
scheduled to last two months.
Nam Cam has been sentenced to death by firing squad, after a jury in the southern city of Ho Chi Minh found him guilty of murder,
bribery and five other crimes. Another 154 people were on trial alongside Nam Cam, including several senior party officials, three of
whom have been given jail sentences. Five other defendants have been sentenced to death, and in total, all but a dozen were found
guilty of the crimes against them.
BBC News - September 15, 2003
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