Only a month before his death, former PM Vo Van Kiet expressed concern about irregularities in the prosecution of Tran Ngoc Suong to the Can Tho City Party Committee.

Suong’s lawyer, Nguyen Truong Thanh, confirmed to VietNamNet that shortly before his death last year, former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet questioned him about the case at the Song Hau Collective Farm. According to Thanh, Kiet then sent a letter to the Can Tho Party Committee, which said in part that “I have heard that the police decided to prosecute this case based on a conclusion made by the Can Tho Vice Party Secretary at a meeting on March 18 2008. . . . If I’m not mistaken, such work must be initiated by investigating agencies or the procuracy.

“I don’t know about your reasons for the party agency’s instruction to the investigative agency to prosecute the case,” continued Kiet’s letter. “I also repeat that the Song Hau Farm and Ba Suong have made a great contribution to agriculture and rural development in Can Tho and the surrounding provinces. If they have made mistakes, it should be dealt with reasonably.

“I’ve also heard that the local Party Committee and People’s Committee plan to claim 4000 hectares of land of the Song Hau Farm and 1000 hectare of the Co Do Farm to build industrial zones.”

“I entirely disagree with such a plan,” the former Prime Minister added, “because this is highly productive rice land, with a systematically-invested agricultural infrastructure. In addition, it is a low-lying area so it will be costly to build the foundation if you build industrial zones there. In addition, Can Tho City and Hau Giang province still have land along the Hau [Lower Mekong] River suitable for building industrial zones.”

Finally, Kiet asked Can Tho authorities to inform him about this case. Also on the same day, May 8, 2008, he sent a letter with similar contents to central government officials.

Former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet passed away on June 11, 2008.

PV