The new Vietnamese President Tô Lâm and NAKA's list of charged Vietnamese citizens. (source: TASR/AP/SME)
The new president of Vietnam, Tô Lâm, is no longer facing charges in Slovakia for the abduction of Vietnamese entrepreneur and former politician Trinh Xuan Thanh, which dates back to 2017.
The prosecutor cancelled the charges on April 29 due to serious formal and procedural errors made by a National Crime Agency (NAKA) investigator, the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Bratislava told the TASR news agency on May 30.
“At the same time, the prosecutor ordered that an investigator of the Interior Ministry’s police inspectorate should act on the matter, due to the fact that proceedings for the same act are already being conducted there,” said the Office.
Lâm, who assumed office last week, on May 22, might still face a prison sentence of up to 15 years if charges are brought against him again and is convicted in the future.
“With Tô Lâm’s ascent to the presidency, Vietnam is now a literal police state,” writes the Associated Press agency in its story.
Because of Lâm’s diplomatic immunity, his prosecution, unlike the investigation of the case, was expected to be suspended.
“According to international law, the president of a state has immunity during the performance of his office, which provides them with protection from criminal prosecution in other states during the entire term of office,” lawyer Tomáš Strémy of Comenius University in Bratislava told the Sme daily last week.
Seven other Vietnamese citizens had faced charges in the abduction case before the prosecutor decided to cancel them. They had been brought against them by Slovakia’s National Crime Agency, including PM Robert Fico’s ex-adviser, Quang Le Hong, on March 27 of this year.
