25 February 2003 :

Communist Vietnam launched the trial of 155 suspected gangsters in a showpiece trial aimed at reassuring investors the government is serious about cracking down on crime. Prosecutors accused a 55-year-old former soldier, Truong Van Cam, of heading a gang that went on a 15-year spree of murder, gambling, illegal emigration and bribery. A former vice minister of public security, Bui Quoc Huy, is among the mostly male defendants, along with several police officials and prosecutors. If found guilty by two judges and a jury of three civilians picked by the Communist Party, 19 defendants face the death penalty. Barricades were put up to contain the hundreds of people gathered outside the court in the bustling southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City as the trial began. Guards with metal detectors searched the bags of people entering the building. "We are very interested in this hearing," said a shopkeeper in his 40s. "We don't know the decision of the court but we'll be following it closely." The trial is set to run for 55 days. A construction worker said he hoped "the right people would receive the right punishment." The trial began with the reading of charges, which took nearly an hour, and questions to confirm defendants' identities. Dressed in a dark green striped prison uniform, Cam responded to the judge's questions in a clear voice. Cam is accused of ordering a hit on a gangster boss, commissioning an acid attack on a rival, bribing officials and running illegal gambling. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh have declared that all defendants found guilty would be punished "regardless of social status." Low state employee pay -- the minimum is about $20 a month -- has left the Vietnamese civil service open to bribes. Observers say the trial - Vietnam's largest ever corruption trial - is a small beginning and the government has to act given increasing public anger over crime.."People are fed up," said one European diplomat. "But the mafia problem is far from being solved." Vietnam gets about $2 billion a year in foreign aid. Both donors and investors have expressed concern about corruption. About 100 journalists watched the trial from an adjoining room on closed circuit television. Foreign media can only cover the opening day and the verdict, expected in May.