Intelligentsia urges party and state leaders of Vietnam to punish criminal shield
Six hundred intellectuals in Ho Chi Minh City who
joined in the
resistance war have urged Party and State leaders to
resolutely deal
with corrupt officials who shielded the activities of
Nam Cam, a
powerful godfather in the country's criminal
underworld.
In a jointly signed letter sent recently to Party
Chief Nong Duc Manh,
the Minister of Public Security Le Minh Huong and the
city's Party
Committee Secretary Nguyen Minh Triet, they emphasized
that: "Without
the protection of corrupt officials, the Nam Cam
clique could not have
existed. The gang is the offspring of corrupt
officials, who were also
efficient henchmen in recent times."
The letter said the Public Security Ministry's action
on cracking down
on the gang is a correct step but falls short of what
is required.
Corrupt officials should be targeted, it pointed out.
The capture of underworld Godfather Nam Cam and his
accomplices on
December 12 is seen as a result of initial steps by
Vietnam's police
force in a general campaign to crack down on organized
criminal gangs
in Ho Chi Minh City and other major urban centers. The
Deputy Minister
of Police Nguyen Khanh Toan announced to the mass
media that strict
punishment would be imposed on any official found to
have shielded Nam
Cam's ring.
The Financial Times - January 31, 2002.
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