Corruption remains a festering sore in Vietnam: legislators
9/10/2008 17:24
The handling of corruption cases nationwide has been slower than expected,
Vietnamese newspaper The Youth reported today, citing a report presented at the
National Assembly (NA) session.
The corruption situation across the country
in the past years is "serious, complex, and involved foreign factors," according
to the report.
The report said inspection conducted by central government
uncovered transgressions that caused loss totaling more than US$430 million from
Oct. 1, 2007 to Aug. 31, 2008.
A review by the NA Judicial Committee showed
that corruption investigations were generally dragged out, and most corruption
cases were reported by citizens rather than civil servants.
The committee
also said financial inspections of firms and agencies were ineffective and
penalties against violators were to puny to be a deterrent.
One NA Standing
committee member said that one third of corruption cases in the country resulted
in probation sentences, and such statistics showed lighter punishments than
deserved.
Xinhua
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