Vietnamese Prime Minister Dismisses Deputy Agriculture Minister Hoang Trung

Deputy Agriculture and Environment Minister Hoang Trung has been dismissed after the Communist Party expelled him and authorities prosecuted him on an allegation of accepting bribes linked to a durian export case.

Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Tuc signed the prime minister’s disciplinary decision, according to the Government Electronic Newspaper. It removes Trung from office because of violations and shortcomings in his work. The measure took effect from July 31, when the Communist Party Secretariat’s disciplinary decision came into force.

The Secretariat reviewed the case on July 28 after receiving a recommendation from the Central Inspection Commission. It said Trung, who also served on the ministry’s party leadership, had shown deterioration in political thinking, ethics and lifestyle. It accused him of violating party rules, state law, restrictions on party members and requirements that officials set an example.

The Secretariat said the violations caused very serious consequences, triggered public anger and severely damaged the reputation of the party organization and the agencies where he worked. It decided to expel him from the party.

Authorities have said Trung and other defendants abused their positions to issue unlawful policies that appeared to create extra licensing requirements for group interests and exceptionally large illicit gains. Investigators also accused them of directing subordinates to issue fake testing certificates and plantation codes, and to illegally trade plantation and packing-facility codes for durian exports. The Police Department investigating corruption, economic and smuggling crimes later prosecuted and detained Trung under Article 354 of the Criminal Code for allegedly accepting bribes.