Life

Australian citizen receives life sentence over death (24-08-2005) HA NOI — Australian citizen Tran Van Thanh, 40, has been reprieved from execution by President Tran Duc Luong. Instead, he will serve life in jail. Thanh, who lived in Sydney, was arrested on June 30, 2003 and sentenced to death by the HCM City People’s Court for trafficking heroin on November 5, last year. His appeal to the HCM City People’s Supreme Court on March 21, this year failed. The President’s clemency was made based on Viet Nam’s tradition of humanity, the fine relationship between the Australia and Viet Nam and Thanh’s plea for mercy, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung told reporters yesterday. — VNS … [Read more...] about Australian citizen receives life sentence over death

Exhibition on President Ho Chi Minh’s life opens (18-05-2006) Many young generations repeatedly visits Ho Chi Minh Museum in Ha Noi on the occasion of the President’s birthday. — VNS Photo Doan Tung HA NOI — An new exhibition explores Ho Chi Minh’s life in time to celebrate the late President’s 116th birthday on May 19. Titled "Studying and following the thought and moral example of Ho Chi Minh", the show features nearly 200 images and artefacts, including autographs of President Ho Chi Minh. The exhibition, already open at the Ho Chi Minh Museum, covers three major themes, and examines the President’s opinion on revolutionary morals, the President’s moral examples, and the determination of the entire Party, people and military to study and follow the President’s thought. Part of a series of activities to mark President Ho Chi Minh’s birthday nation-wide, a French photographer exhibits nearly 120 of her photos of relic sites relating to the late … [Read more...] about Exhibition on President Ho Chi Minh’s life opens

Con artists get life in prison (26-10-2006) HA NOI — A Taiwanese and a Vietnamese, found guilty of fraud, were sentenced to life in prison yesterday by the Ha Noi People’s Court after a two-day trial. The Vietnamese wife of Taiwanese passport holder Yen Ji Sheng also received a 10-year jail sentence. The three were also ordered to pay compensation of over VND4 billion (US$250,000) to their victims. Yen arrived in Viet Nam in 1990 and married here in 1996. The couple lived in a rented house in Ha Noi. Yen cheated Vietnamese businessmen by creating fake documents on his computer to suggest that he held large sums of money in overseas banks. In order to borrow from him, the Vietnamese enterprises had to pay him money transfer and loan disbursement fees. The other accused, Nguyen Tien Tranh, was the former director of Thanh Binh Investment and Import-Export Joint Stock Co, and he also participated in Yen’s fraud. Five local companies signed financial … [Read more...] about Con artists get life in prison

VNA celebrates life of former Party leader with biography (06-04-2007) National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong and other visitors view pictures at the exhibition of Le Duan-Life and Career. — VNA/VNS Photo Trong Duc HA NOI — The Vietnam News Agency’s Publishing House has released a bilingual picture book on former Party General Secretary Le Duan (1907-1986) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth on Saturday. The book, with 211 pages and 350 photos, features images of his life and role in Viet Nam’s revolution. The first part is of the book is a biography of his life, followed by a section on his homeland and family, while the third and fourth parts describe the 60 years he devoted to Viet Nam’s freedom. — VNS … [Read more...] about VNA celebrates life of former Party leader with biography

Vietnamese in Cambodia lauded for overcoming life’s hardships (28-04-2007) National Assembly chairman Nguyen Phu Trong visits the National Museum of Cambodia. — VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung PHNOM PENH — National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong yesterday hailed Vietnamese living in Cambodia for their efforts to overcome difficulties while being abroad. Trong made the comments while meeting with Viet kieu (Overseas Vietnamese) in Phnom Penh during an official trip to Cambodia. The NA chairman said he sympathised with Viet kieu who faced difficulties while working to advance the homeland. He affirmed the Party and State’s responsibility to the Vietnamese community living abroad, including Viet kieu in Cambodia. Trong said he appreciated the Cambodian Viet kieu’s great attention to the country’s situation. He also updated the meeting’s participants on the latest developments in Viet Nam, including preparations for the 12th National Assembly election … [Read more...] about Vietnamese in Cambodia lauded for overcoming life’s hardships

Former National Assembly member Châu Thị Thu Nga was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday for swindling and illegal asset appropriation. —  Photo soha.vn HÀ NỘI — Former National Assembly member Châu Thị Thu Nga was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday for swindling and illegal asset appropriation. Nga was former Chairwoman and General Director of the Land and Housing Construction and Investment JSC (Housing Group). The Hà Nội Supreme People’s Court also handed down jail terms of six years, four years, 30 months and 24 months respectively to four former general directors of Housing Group: Nguyễn Trường Sơn, Lê Hồng Cương, Nguyễn Vũ Hùng and Phan Thanh Tuyên. Other people sentenced in the case included two former directors of Housing Group’s real estate trading company, Nguyễn Thị Tình and Lưu Thị Thúy, who will be imprisoned for seven and three years respectively. Former chief accountants of the Housing Group, Phạm Thị Thu Hạnh and Đinh Phúc … [Read more...] about Ex NA deputy gets life for mega swindle

Sơn La Hydropower Plant. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngọc Hà Viet Nam News SƠN LA — Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng on Friday urged for more efforts to create a better life for people who had to relocate for the construction of the Sơn La Hydropower Plant in the northwestern province of Sơn La. Sơn La Hydropower Plant is one of the key national projects to supply electricity for socio-economic development, industrialisation and modernisation. It went into operation in 2012 and has also played a significant role in preventing floods during the rainy season and providing water in the dry season for the country’s northwest region. Fifteen years since the project started, a total of 20,340 households from three provinces of Sơn La, Điện Biên and Lai Châu have been relocated to make lands for the plant’s construction, said a report delivered to Dũng and other Government officials during their working trip to the province on March 15-16 to review the results of the relocation plan. … [Read more...] about Life improvement needed for relocated people: Deputy PM

A local resident receives treatment at Đưng K’Nớh Commune Medical Centre in Lạc Dương District in the Highlands Central Province of Lâm Đồng. The commune has accomplished 10 out 19 criteria for the new rural areas. – VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Dũng Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — A life of material abundance but cultural and spiritual poverty is meaningless, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said. “We are building a socialist-oriented market economy, not a market society,” the Government leader said yesterday during a conference marking nearly a decade since the launching of the movement “All people united to build cultural life.” From the early 1990s, socio-economic conditions started to improve and Vietnamese people’s worries were no longer solely about making ends meet. They started to have more time to be concerned about living fulfilling cultural and spiritual lives. Originally a small contest between six households in a rural hamlet of the northern province Hưng Yên in the … [Read more...] about Material prosperity must be accompanied by fulfilling spiritual life: PM Phúc

Defendants at the trial on losses incurred by Đông Á Bank in HCM City on December 7. — VNA/VNS Photo by Thành Chung Viet Nam News HCM CITY — The HCM City People’s Procuracy on Friday sought life imprisonment for Trần Phương Bình, former general director and vice chairman of Đông Á Bank for “abusing power to appropriate assets,” and another 20 years for “lack of responsibility, causing serious consequences”. It also wanted Bình to pay the bank VNĐ3.568 trillion (US$153 million) in compensation. Bình is one of 26 defendants in the ongoing trial, with Phan Văn Anh Vũ, aka Vũ Nhôm, former chairman of Đà Nẵng-based Bắc Nam 79 Construction Joint-Stock Co, and Nguyễn Thị Kim Xuyến, the lender’s former deputy general director, being among the others. They also face charges of causing losses by “intentionally violating regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences.” The prosecutors have sought 15-17 years’ imprisonment for Vũ. Vũ was sentenced … [Read more...] about Prosecutors demand life sentence for former Đông Á Bank chief

Illustrative Photo Viet Nam News HCM CITY — An Australian man received life imprisonment for attempting to smuggle drugs out of Việt Nam, HCM City People’s Court announced on Monday. According to the indictment, Jones Nathan Andrew James, 34, was induced by another Australian man named Tim to transport drugs from Việt Nam to Australia. James and his family arrived in Việt Nam on a one-week holiday to Phan Thiết City in central Binh Thuận Province. On October 19, 2013, James received two suitcases containing 3kg of drugs from an unknown person in HCM City. He was arrested by customs at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport while checking in for a flight to Australia. At the hearing, he confessed to his crime. He was supposed to be awarded the death sentence, but after considering his restricted cognitive capability, the court decided to reduce the punishment to life. — VNS … [Read more...] about Australian national receives life sentence for drug trafficking