The two newspaper journalists each face up to seven years in prison for "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state" in the Hanoi People's Court hearing where a verdict was expected Wednesday.

They helped expose a major graft scandal in a transport ministry unit, known as PMU 18, where officials embezzled development funds meant for roads and bridges and bet much of it on European football.

The aggressive reporting in a country where all media, and the courts, remain under the control of the one-party state was praised by foreign observers and spurred state promises of a major anti-graft drive.

The scandal led to the resignation in 2006 of then transport minister Dao Dinh Binh and the arrest of his deputy, Nguyen Viet Tien, while eight PMU 18 officials were jailed last year for illegal gambling and corruption.

The case, however, took an unexpected turn when the deputy minister was freed from detention last October and cleared of all charges in March.

In May police arrested the two journalists Nguyen Van Hai, 33, of the Tuoi Tre (Youth) daily, and Nguyen Viet Chien, 56, of the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper initially accusing them of "abuse of power."

While Hai Tuesday admitted to some unintended errors in his reporting and once broke down in tears, Chien launched into a spirited defence, saying he was a principled reporter motivated by the desire "to fight corruption."

On trial with them were two senior police officers who denied providing the reporters information -- General Pham Xuan Quac, 62, and Senior Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Van Huynh, 50, who also face up to seven years in jail.

Prosecutors demanded journalist Chien and Lieutenant Colonel Huynh be jailed for 24 to 30 months each, and that the two others undergo reeducation without detention -- Colonel Quac for two years, and Hai for 18 to 24 months.

One prosecutor, while cross-examining Chien, said all interviews with the police sources were illegal under Vietnamese press law because "journalists are not allowed to receive information from unauthorised sources."

The state's lawyers argued that the reports contained errors, were biased and had tarnished the images of officials, party cadres, Vietnam and its leadership, ahead of a five-yearly party congress in early 2006.

"Hostile forces, reactionaries and political opportunists" had taken advantage of the scandal to attack Vietnam's leaders while "stirring up activities to disturb security and order" ahead of the congress, they argued.

Veteran reporter Chien said he had been singled out and, confronted with the accusation that he had revealed state secrets, replied that "once they (police) give the information to us, it's no longer secret."

He said until his arrest he had never received a reprimand, defamation suit or readers' complaint and added: "When PMU 18 was discovered, the whole political system of this country was focused on the issue."

The arrests have sent a chill through the Vietnamese media, which initially protested but following stern official warnings fell silent. The two dailies' deputy editors have had their press credentials withdrawn.

Some foreign diplomats and media were allowed to follow the journalists' trial via closed-circuit television, but scores of Vietnamese journalists had to stand outside the court, some comforting Chien's tearful relatives.

Media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders has labelled the trial the state's "revenge" against two "daring journalists who revealed embarrassing cases and brought greater freedom to the Vietnamese press."

Agence France Presse - October 14, 2008

Vietnam trial tests media freedom

Two Vietnamese journalists who helped expose state corruption have gone on trial, in a case that has put Vietnam's media freedoms under scrutiny.

The two reporters, from the well-known newspapers Tuoi Tre and Thanh Nien, are accused of "abusing freedom and democratic rights". They allegedly fabricated unspecified "sensitive information" while covering a high-profile corruption case. It is not known how the accused pleaded when they appeared in court in Hanoi. Two former high-ranking police officials have also been taken to court for allegedly leaking unauthorised information to the media.

'No commentary'

The so-called PMU-18 scandal, which broke in early 2006, was named after a unit of the Ministry of Transport. Officials were found to have stolen development funds meant for roads and bridges, betting much of the money on European football. The scandal led to the arrest of a number of high-ranking officials and the departure of the then minister of transport Dao Dinh Binh. Journalists Nguyen Van Hai, 33, and Nguyen Viet Chien, 56, were arrested last May and have been held since. Each wrote more than 50 news and feature stories on the case. If found guilty, they could face up to seven years in jail.

The same jail sentence may apply to Maj Gen Pham Xuan Quac and Senior Lt Col Dinh Van Huynh, the two policemen accused of deliberately disclosing investigative secrets. Ahead of one of the most talked-about trials in Vietnam in recent years, the domestic press, paradoxically, stayed silent. It is believed that the ideological department of the Communist Party, which maintains close control over the media, instructed reporters covering the two-day trial to report "only facts and no commentary". A reporter in Hanoi, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: "They want to make sure that the press write about it as an ordinary trial and not one with any political implications."

Prolific coverage

The case originally examined football betting allegations at PMU-18, but gathered political steam after the arrest in April 2006 of vice minister Nguyen Viet Tien. Mr Tien was once in charge of PMU-18 and at the time of the arrest was considered a ministerial hopeful. The case brought prolific media attention to his wrong-doings as well as his "immoral and decadent" lifestyle. Another rising star of the regime, Maj Gen Cao Ngoc Oanh, lost his position as head of investigative police after newspapers named him as having personal contacts with someone implicated in the scandal. But the case took an unexpected turn last spring when the authorities cleared the vice minister of corruption charges. The spotlight then turned on the media reportage, soon deemed by the authorities to have been "erroneous" and "harmful".

Fear for coverage

The subsequent arrest and prosecution of the two reporters has stirred up a storm, as Tuoi Tre and Thanh Nien are among the largest newspapers in the country. Foreign governments have expressed concern and rights organisations have repeatedly called for the release of Mr Hai and Mr Chien. They express fear that their plight will deter newspapers from reporting on corruption cases in future.

By Nga Pham - BBC News - october 14, 2008

Trial opens for Vietnam anti-corruption journalists

Hanoi - One of two journalists who went on trial Tuesday in connection with their reporting on a government corruption scandal pled guilty to "abusing democratic freedoms" in a case seen as a bellwether for press freedom in Vietnam. Nguyen Van Hai said he considered accurate the government's indictment of him. "I have clearly specified that the information in my stories was wrong," he said.

Nguyen Viet Chien, however, denied breaking the law.

The trial of Hai, 33, and Chien, 56, formerly reporters at the Tuoi Tre and Thanh Nien newspapers, and of their source, former police general Pham Xuan Quac, opened Tuesday at the Hanoi People's Court and was expected to conclude Wednesday.

Hai and Chien were among those whose reporting in 2006 helped uncover a scandal involving millions of dollars of illegal gambling, kickbacks and embezzlement in the Transport Ministry.

The scandal, which was extensively covered in Vietnam's media, led to the resignation of the minister and the arrest of dozens of officials, including then-deputy minister Nguyen Viet Tien.

On March 28, Tien was acquitted and reinstated as a member of Vietnam's Communist Party. Six weeks later, Hai and Chien were arrested along with their source Quang, 62, who had worked on the case.

Their arrests led to unprecedented protests by journalists and members of the public.

In a subsequent crackdown, the deputy editors of Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre were stripped of their press cards. The Vietnamese press has reported cautiously on the trials since.

Quac has been charged with eight counts of disclosing state secrets. The law under which the journalists have been charged criminalizes "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens."

It has been used in recent years to prosecute independent labour activists in Ho Chi Minh City and police officers in Danang who accused local officials of corruption.

It carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

While Hai said information in his reports was wrong, Chien said he had verified a report that a Transport Ministry official had paid a 500,000-dollar bribe to escape prosecution and that the rest of his information had come directly from police investigators like Quac.

"I don't think the information general Quac gave me is on any list of secret state documents," Chien said.

Quac denied he had supplied secret information to journalists, but most of the journalists involved in reporting the case have testified that Quac served as a source.

In addition to raising concerns about press freedom, the case has called into question Vietnam's commitment to fighting corruption.

Transparency International ranks Vietnam 123rd out of 179 countries on its index of global corruption, in which the 179th country is ranked the most corrupt.

Deutsche Presse Agentur - October 14, 2008