GVN TO PUT ANTI-CORRUPTION REPORTERS ON TRIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001166 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2018 TAGS: ECON KCOR KPAO PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI VM SUBJECT: GVN TO PUT ANTI-CORRUPTION REPORTERS ON TRIAL REF: A. HANOI 569 ¶B. HANOI 563 ¶C. HCMC 1136 HANOI 00001166 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Pol Counselor Brian Aggeler for Reasons 1.4 (B and D) ¶1. (C) Summary: The trial of two journalists for their reports on a major corruption scandal is slated to take place in Hanoi on October 14 and 15. The Government of Vietnam (GVN) changed the charges against the two from "abuse of power in performing official duties" to "abusing democratic freedoms" because it fears it could not convict on the former charge, according to a well-placed Embassy contact in the Government. The GVN has also charged the journalists' two Ministry of Public Security (MPS) sources with "intentionally disclosing State secrets." However, a contact close to senior Hanoi police says the MPS major general who led the investigation of the corruption scandal and served as the reporters' source likely will avoid jail time in exchange for his silence. While the "full story" on the major corruption scandal may never be known, it is clear that the GVN's moves against members of the press continue to have a chilling effect on journalists' pursuit of other possible high-level corruption stories. End Summary. ¶2. (C) On October 10, the Government of Vietnam (GVN) confirmed that the trial of Tuoi Tre's ("Young Age") Nguyen Van Hai and Thanh Nien's ("Youth") Nguyen Viet Chien will take place October 14 and 15 in Hanoi. The GVN switched the charges against the two journalists from "abuse of power in performing official duties" to "abusing democratic freedoms." The Ministry of Information and Communication's (MOIC) Nguyen Van Hoa (protect) told us the change was made because the GVN fears it has insufficient evidence to obtain guilty verdicts for "abuse of power." (Note: Hanoi has used the Penal Code's vaguely defined "abuse of democratic freedoms" to jail several political activists over the past year. End Note). ¶3. (SBU) Hai and Chien produced stories in 2006 on a major corruption scandal at the Ministry of Transportation's (MOT) Project Management Unit Number 18 (PMU-18). The scandal involved officials gambling millions of dollars in infrastructure funds on soccer matches and cars and attempting to bribe police to cover up their misdeeds. Several PMU-18 officials were found guilty of malfeasance in the case and are in jail. For their part, Hai and Chien have been in temporary detention facilities in Hanoi since police arrested them in early May. Media figures and intellectuals strongly and publicly voiced opposition to the arrests, but State-controlled newspapers stopped running articles on Hai's and Chien's problems after MOIC reportedly ordered them to stop (Refs). Some local analysts say the release of PMU-18 information in 2006 was related to power struggles at the top levels. The story broke two months before the 9th Party Congress, when Party higher-ups decided who would serve in top positions. ¶4. (C) The GVN has also charged Hai's and Chien's two MPS sources with "intentionally disclosing State secrets," but it is unclear whether they will actually face trial. Phan Le Khoi, an Embassy contact who runs a media business and maintains close ties to Hanoi municipal police, told us that one of the two MPS officials charged -- a major general -- likely will continue to avoid jail time. According to Khoi, the major general, who retired in early 2007 and is not in detention, has a list of top officials involved in PMU-18 misdeeds and is expected to keep his mouth shut in exchange for his freedom. We have conflicting information as to whether the colonel who worked under the major general will face trial and/or be forced to testify in the journalists' trials. ¶5. (C) MOIC's Hoa said the prosecution of the two journalists is intended to teach reporters the lesson that they "cannot run whatever stories they want." He added that the Chairman of the Party Commission on Propaganda and Education, the mouthpiece for the Party's 160-member Central Committee, has obliquely reinforced this message in regular monthly meetings with senior officials from MOIC, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the heads of State-controlled media outlets such as Vietnam Television, Voice of Vietnam and major newspapers that report on domestic political events. ¶6. (C) Le Kien Thanh, son of former General Secretary Le Duan and a prominent businessman with strong ties to Party elites, lamented that the "full story" on PMU-18 likely will not see the light of day. He drew analogies between PMU-18 and an alleged 1967 coup plot in the Vietnamese military. Only now -- over 40 years later -- are people starting to learn about this alleged plot, he said. Senior Party and military leaders did not reveal any information about it at the time HANOI 00001166 002.2 OF 002 for fear doing so would negatively affect officers' morale, he said. ¶7. (C) In 2006, people used the PMU-18 story to further their political agendas, Thanh said. In the process, "some people" manufactured evidence because if the case relied solely on hard facts, it would be difficult to prove wrong-doing, he said. In manufacturing evidence, however, those responsible for the falsified evidence provided an opening for opponents to "strike back," which is what the court case next week is about, he asserted. (Comment: Left unsaid was whether the reporters knowingly passed along the false information. End Comment.) In Other PMU-18 News... -------------- ¶8. (SBU) In other PMU-18 developments, the Party reprimanded Vice Minister Nguyen Viet Tien, who oversaw PMU-18, for "lack of responsibility" in carrying out his duties and recommended to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that Tien be removed from the MOT's rolls. In late August, PM Dung formally decided to remove VM Tien from his position. The PM's decision goes against the Party Inspection Commission's recommendation in late May that the vice minister's Party status be restored. (Note: In Vietnam's communist system, in order to remove someone from his or her government position, the Party must put forward the idea first. End Note). ¶9. (C) Thanh Nien journalists in HCMC told Poloff recently that the Thanh Nien Chief Editor may have successfully convinced the authorities to treat Thanh Nien reporter Chien more leniently by agreeing to sell two prime plots of land in HCMC owned by the newspaper to senior Party officials. Authorities have yet to call the Chief Editor to Hanoi for questioning, which Thanh Nien staff have interpreted as a possible "free pass" for him in the ongoing press crackdown. Comment: As the PMU-18 World Turns -------------- ¶10. (C) The PM's removal of VM Tien was a technicality as he was in effect already not working at the ministry. Still, the back and forth on his fate provides evidence that top leaders continue to struggle over how to deal with PMU-18 fallout. In this connection, what happens to the journalists' two police sources who were investigating the scandal will be significant. As for the press, many of our journalist contacts have told us privately that the arrests and trials mean reporters must be "smarter and more careful" in how they report on corruption stories. This will serve GVN and Party purposes as self-censorship means Party censors will not have to directly get involved in preventing a story from running. ¶11. (U) This cable was coordinated with Con Gen Ho Chi Minh City. PALMER