At the meeting, Ms. Pham Xuan Binh - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Kien Giang province - apologized to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Chung and his family.

"I apologize to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Chung because the former director of the provincial Department of Education and Training, Nguyen Thi Minh Giang, provided information to the press before the conclusion of his wrongdoings was made," said Ms. Binh.

Sorry for giving information to the press early.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Giang - former director of the Department of Education and Training of Kien Giang province - said that the case of Mr. Nguyen Dinh Chung has lasted for 7 years, causing a lot of trouble for the colleagues at the department.

She has been retired for 5 years but still feels uncomfortable because she sees her colleagues at work going to court all the time.

She apologized for not finishing the case before retiring, causing the brothers to have to go to court dozens of times, wasting a lot of time.

For Mr. Chung, speaking first or speaking later, if wrong, is wrong compared to what party members are not allowed to do. As for speaking first, there is no wrong in speaking first. The law stipulates that speaking ill is wrong, slandering is wrong, exaggerating is wrong, but there is no law that says speaking first is wrong.

"Therefore, for nearly 5 years now, the District 12 Court (HCMC) has not issued any verdict stating that I was wrong. If today the court decides to require me to publicly apologize to Mr. Chung because I spoke up about Mr. Chung's wrongdoings before the conclusion of the competent authority, then I would like to publicly apologize to Mr. Chung," said Ms. Giang.

On May 16, the People's Court of District 12, Ho Chi Minh City signed a decision on "Recognizing the agreement of the parties".

Accordingly, the Department of Education and Training of Kien Giang province agreed to the request of the plaintiff Nguyen Dinh Chung. The Department of Education and Training of Kien Giang province will hold a public meeting to apologize to Mr. Chung at Vo Van Kiet Middle and High School.

Because before that, Ms. Giang, former director of the Department of Education and Training of Kien Giang province, provided information to the press before the competent authority concluded that Mr. Chung had violated the law.

Will request correction, removal of 3 articles

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Chung said he thanked the leaders of the provincial Department of Education and Training for organizing a public announcement to apologize to him after nearly 7 years of seeking justice.

"The purpose is to clarify my justice, for which I have devoted myself to the cause of education. I had a professional accident in August 2017.

Today, everything is basically clear, I accept the apology of the Provincial Department of Education and Training and Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Giang, although the apology is too late," said Mr. Chung.

In the near future, his family will petition the leaders of a newspaper to remove three articles that have been written with false information and to make public corrections according to the law.