NA Standing Committee reviews crime prevention and legal violations

Hanoi (VNA) - The National Assembly Standing Committee on September 14 discussed the 2020 working reports compiled by the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuracy, as well as Government reports on crime prevention and legal violations, judgment enforcement and anti-corruption work in 2020.

According to the reports, out of 81 cases involving officials acting irresponsibly, resulting in corruption, 62 people were disciplined for their wrongdoings (an increase of 66.1 percent compared to 2019), of whom 12 were punished under criminal law.

Police investigated 508 cases this year, with more than 1,000 people accused of corruption. The People's Procuracy at all levels resolved 218 cases, a decrease of 17.5 percent compared to the same period in 2019. The People's Court at all levels processed 388 cases with more than 1,000 defendants.

Regarding implementation of judgments related to the recovery of corrupt assets, more than 11 trillion VND (473 million USD), accounting for 23.25 percent of the total amount, was recovered.

For cases under the management of the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption, more than 74 trillion VND (3.1 billion USD) was due to be recovered, but only 19 trillion VND was collected.

According to the reports, corruption was being gradually curbed but could still be found in many fields, especially "minor corruption" that caused problems for people and businesses.

Reduction in criminal cases

Regarding crime prevention and fighting, Lieutenant General Le Quy Vuong, Deputy Minister of Public Security, said police forces had busted 2,485 criminal gangs operating across a range of areas, including "black credit". This strong response had resulted in a reduction of 3.19 percent in the number of criminal cases compared to the same period in 2019.

Authorities uncovered 17,887 crimes and legal violations related to economic management, an increase of more than 25 percent compared to last year. They included 228 cases and 492 defendants. There were also 19,682 violations of the Law on Environment discovered, with 357 defendants.

Regarding drug crimes, police uncovered 24,842 cases, seized over 580kg of heroin and nearly 1.7 million synthetic drug pills. The report said drug-related crimes remained complicated, with rising quantities of synthetic drugs being smuggled from Laos and Cambodia into Vietnam.

Hostile forces at home and abroad continued to expand their activities in many fields, and the disclosure of state secrets in cyberspace was becoming increasingly serious. Illegal entries were also an issue, especially during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Lieutenant General Le Quy Vuong said that police would take a strong and aggressive stance against crime, focusing on fighting organised gangs, "black credit", weapons and explosives, fraud and the appropriation of property./.