The Rescue Flight Trial Begins
Shockingly honest testimony abounds
Good morning, and welcome to the latest subscriber-only edition of the Vietnam Weekly, written by reporter Mike Tatarski. These versions of the newsletter are published three times a month and feature deeper coverage of individual topics, whereas the free-to-read editions published every Friday quickly touch on several issues. You can upgrade to receive all future exclusive articles and access the full archive for US$5/month or US$50/year below.
Something I’m tracking this week is Storm Talim, the first tropical storm of the year. It is expected to make landfall in Quang Ninh or Hai Phong on Wednesday. Officials are preparing to evacuate thousands of people from coastal areas, while ships have been called back to port and mountainous regions in the north face possible flooding and landslides.
On to the news.
Today’s focus is the trial for the Covid-era repatriation flight scandal, one of the most significant public corruption cases in Vietnamese history.
The trial began last Tuesday and involves 54 defendants. Their testimonies have been covered in remarkable detail, which we’ll get to below, but this morning delivered a surprise: the presiding judge suspended the proceedings.