On June 10, Mr. Pham Ngoc Thach (residing in Hung Nguyen district, Nghe An) said that according to the announcement of the People's Court of Nghe An province, the appeal trial of his wife, Ms. Le Thi Dung (51 years old, former Director of the Center for Vocational Education - Continuing Education of Hung Nguyen district, Nghe An province) will take place at 8:00 a.m. on June 12 and will be held publicly.

According to Mr. Thach, there are currently 7 lawyers participating in the free defense of his wife. They have completed the procedures to participate in the trial in accordance with the law.

Previously, on April 24, the People's Court of Hung Nguyen district concluded the first instance trial and sentenced defendant Le Thi Dung (former Director of the Hung Nguyen District Continuing Education Center) to 5 years in prison for the crime of "Abusing position and power while performing official duties".

According to the case file, the Hung Nguyen District Continuing Education Center (now the Hung Nguyen District Vocational Education - Continuing Education Center) is a self-funded public service unit, self-funding part of regular operating expenses, implementing the autonomous regime according to Decree No. 43/2006/ND-CP of the Government dated April 25, 2006.

On October 1, 2012, Ms. Le Thi Dung was appointed by the Director of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province as Director of the Continuing Education Center of Hung Nguyen district for the 2012-2017 term.

After being appointed, every year, Ms. Dung directed the center's accountants, professional groups, and trade unions to advise and develop professional operating regulations and internal spending regulations from 2012 to 2017.

During the school years from 2011-2016, Le Thi Dung paid the first installment for the contents of Party cell secretary; support for graduate studies and training, and testing according to regulations with the amount of 36,695 thousand VND.

Although the first payment was made, the contents of the Party cell secretary; support for graduate studies and training, and continued testing were converted by Le Thi Duy into teaching hours to pay for overtime (second payment) with an amount of nearly 45 million VND. This amount was transferred to Le Thi Dung's personal account.

The indictment of the People's Procuracy of Hung Nguyen district prosecuted Le Thi Dung twice for causing damage to the state budget, thus committing the crime of "Abusing position and power while performing official duties" as prescribed in Point b, Clause 2, Article 356 of the Penal Code.

After the end of the first instance trial, defendant Le Thi Dung filed an appeal against the entire first instance judgment. The People's Procuracy of Nghe An province filed an appeal requesting the Provincial People's Court to review the appeal in the direction of annulling the first instance judgment for reinvestigation and retrial.

(Source: Tien Phong)