Vietnam jails bent policewoman
HANOI - A court in Vietnam has sentenced a senior police officer to 15 months in prison for hiring a gang to demolish a man's house with hammers and crowbars, a court official said Friday.
The People's Court of Hanoi declared Nguyen Bich Thuy, 47, guilty of taking part in an illegal demolition, after a two-day trial that ended Thursday, said Nguyen Huu Chinh, a judge of the court.
"Thuy pleaded guilty, and showed remorse," Chinh said.
Thuy was a Lieutenant Colonel in the capital city's police force when she was arrested in July, 2006. Police said she had accepted a bribe of roughly 5,000 US dollars from home-owner Tran Viet Son in exchange for organising a crew of men to demolish the house of his neighbor, Nguyen Viet Dung, with whom he had a property dispute.
According to local press reports, Thuy collaborated with a local gangster named "Highway" Ngoc, who collected a team of 30 men with wrecking tools. The demolition took place at night. By the time police arrived the next morning, half of the house had been destroyed.
Ten other people involved in the illegal demolition were given sentences of between 18 months' probation and four years in prison.
Thuy was a well-regarded officer in the city police force's investigations unit for 20 years, according to local media. She had received awards from Vietnam's prime minister, the Ministry of Public Security and the People's Committee of Hanoi.
Police corruption cases have become increasingly prominent in Vietnam in the last year. In February, seven Hanoi police officers were jailed for protecting a heroin trafficking ring.
Last September, a prosecutor in Tien Giang province was arrested for accepting a bribe, after the woman who bribed him complained he failed to get results. And in early 2006 several police officers were accused of taking money to help officials involved in a corruption scandal in Vietnam's Transportation Ministry.
Deutsche Presse Agentur - June 1, 2007.
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