Top Communist jailed in Vietnam trial

A former Communist Party official was on Monday sentenced to 13 years in jail in Vietnam after the most high-level trial in decades.

Former Politburo member Dinh La Thang, 58, was found guilty of intentionally violating state regulations on economic management in state oil firm PetroVietnam (PVN), causing serious consequences, the BBC reported.

The trial was part of a showcase crackdown on corruption involving high-profile energy and banking executives. Another executive from the firm, Trinh Xuan Thanh, was sentenced to life.

Dinh La Thang was the former Chairman of the member council of PetroVietnam whereas Trinh Xuan Thanh was the former Chairman and General Director of PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corp (PVC) under PetroVietnam.

Thang was mainly responsible for wrongdoings during the implementation of the Thai Binh 2 thermal power plant project. The plant was built by PVC.

He lost his membership in the Political Bureau under the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee in May 2017.

Trinh Xuan Thanh's case came to international attention last year when the German Foreign Ministry accused Vietnam of illegally kidnapping him from Berlin, where he was seeking asylum.

Twenty other people were sentenced at the trial in Hanoi. They received jail terms ranging from three years suspended to nine years.

--IANS

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