On September 20, sources from the People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City informed that the three defendants in the bribery case had filed for an appeal against their sentence.
All the defendants appealed for their punishment to be mitigated, namely, Tuoi Tre journalist Nguyen Van Khuong, businessman Tran Minh Hoa from Phu Nhuan District, and Tran Anh Tuan, deputy director of Tan Hai Phong Trading Company.
Previously, in a two day session on September 6 and 7, the City People's Court had opened trial against the defendants and sentenced Tran Minh Hoa to five years in prison, and Tran Anh Tuan for one year, on charges of ‘offering bribes’.
The HCMC People’s Court also sentenced Hoang Khuong, whose real name is Nguyen Van Khuong, to four years in jail on charges of ‘giving bribes’.
The prosecutor’s office had earlier proposed a 6-7 year sentence for Khuong, but the court ruled a lighter sentence, saying his contribution as a journalist was an extenuating circumstance.
Meanwhile, Huynh Minh Duc, former traffic police officer at Binh Thanh District, who allegedly received bribes from Hoang Khuong got five years in prison on charges of ‘taking bribes’; Nguyen Duc Dong Anh, Khuong’s younger brother-in-law, received four years in prison for ‘handing bribes’; Ton That Hoa, director of Duy Nguyen Private Enterprise, received two years in prison for ‘brokering bribes’.
Only Ton That Hoa did not appeal against his prison sentence.
