Vietnam do not agree with Germany’s accusations
6/8/17
Vietnam has expressed its discomfort at a recent statement from the
German foreign ministry, which requested a Vietnamese embassy officer to leave
Germany in response to the alleged kidnap of a former Vietnamese oil executive
in Berlin.
Thursday’s regular meeting of the Vietnamese foreign ministry in
Hanoi was overshadowed by questions regarding Trinh Xuan Thanh, a fugitive who turned
himself in to police on Monday after hiding overseas
for nearly a year.
Thanh, a former provincial leader and ex-chairman of a state-run
Vietnamese company, has been criminally charged for his role in the firm’s
incurring massive losses.
According to an AP report
on Wednesday, the German government accused Vietnamese agents of kidnapping an
ex-oil executive in Berlin, apparently referring to Thanh, and consequently
demanded that an officer of the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany leave the country
within 48 hours
Le Thi Thu Hang, spokesperson of the Vietnamese foreign ministry
said she “feels sorry about the statement from the spokesperson of the German
foreign ministry in regard to Trinh Xuan Thanh on August 2.”
An AFP correspondent
also questioned Hang as to whether Vietnam confirms the accusation that it had
kidnapped Thanh in Berlin and whether the incident would affect the
Vietnam-Germany relations. The reporter also asked the spokesperson about the
whereabouts of Thanh.
German news agency DPA requested
Vietnam’s reaction to reports which quoted Thanh’s attorney in Germany as
saying that the ex-oil executive was seeking asylum in the European country.
Responding to those questions, Hang said: “According to a July 31
announcement from Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, Trinh Xuan Thanh gave
himself up to the police. Competent Vietnamese agencies are investigating the
case.”
The spokesperson added that Vietnam always respects and keeps
developing its strategic partnership with Germany.
Also on Wednesday, the German foreign ministry said in an official
statement that the Vietnamese government should bring Thanh back to Germany so
the European country could start processing a Vietnamese request to extradite
him, as well as his asylum application.
Trinh Xuan Thanh is the former deputy chairman of the
administration of Hau Giang Province and the former chairman of PetroVietnam
Construction JSC (PVC), a subsidiary of state-run oil and gas giant
PetroVietnam.
He is among six individuals probed on charges of “intentionally
violating state regulations on economic management that caused severe
consequences,” for causing massive losses of approximately US$147 million at
PVC.
An international wanted notice was issued for Thanh in September
2016.
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