2 hours, 51 minutes ago
HANOI, (AFP) - Vietnam's former deputy sports minister Luong Quoc Dung will stand trial on October 29 on charges of raping a 13-year-old girl, state media reports.
The accused had held the post of vice chairman of the State Committee for Physical Training and Sports until he was dismissed by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and expelled from the ruling Communist Party on March 1.
Dung's trial is only scheduled to last one day, the Thanh Nien newspaper said. If convicted by the Hanoi People's Court, the 52-year-old faces between seven and 15 years in prison.
His appeal for the charge to be reduced to having sex with a minor instead of rape was rejected by the prosecution.
Dung, who had deputy ministerial status, was taken into police custody on February 19 and charged with rape, two days after Nguyen Thi Quynh Nga, the woman accused of procuring the teenager for him, turned herself in.
According to police, the unidentified alleged rape victim was taken to a hotel in the Vietnamese capital on December 30 last year by her neighbour, Nga, who had been asked by Dung to find him a virgin.
Nga, 22, told the young girl that they would be going clothes shopping but she was taken to a city centre hotel, forced into a room where she was slapped and then allegedly raped by Dung.
After the alleged incident, Nga gave the teenager a "morning-after" contraceptive pill and around 320 dollars in cash, and told her not to tell anybody about what happened, police have said.
She was also promised more money if Dung wanted a second meeting. The victim, however, told her parents that day, who promptly went to the police.
Dung subsequently arranged to pay the girl's family 68,000 dollars -- a huge sum in this impoverished country -- in return for them withdrawing the accusation, according to state media.
Even though her parents allegedly accepted the money, police decided to proceed with the case because of the serious nature of the charges.
Nga will also stand trial on October 29, the Thanh Nien said.
Following Dung's arrest, the prime minister also ordered an investigation into alleged corruption in construction projects relating to last December's Southeast Asian Games, which were held in Vietnam for the first time.
Dung oversaw the financing of the regional mini-Olympics, including the building of the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi.
Why didn't they just kill this son of a b!tch to save some jail money and reduce the costs of hiring lawyers and save more time to deal with other important businesses. Just by looking at this pig's face makes me want to throw up. How in the hell did this pig get to be deputy sports minister? What a government!
Shoot him.
Fort arms. Present arms. Ready. Aim. Fire!
-
- 