Huynh Ngoc Si, former head of the East-West Highway and Water Environment project, was sentenced to three years in prison

Prosecutors on Friday demanded longer jail terms, of between 10 to 15 years each, for two senior Ho Chi Minh City officials sentenced to 2-3 years for abusing power last month.

Huynh Ngoc Si, former head of the East-West Highway project, was sentenced three years in jail and his deputy, Le Qua, two years.

They were found guilty of abusing their power when they had rented an office to Tokyo-based Pacific Consultants International (PCI) from August 2001 to November 2002 without reporting the lease in order to keep US$67,300 in rents.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court said its decision was lenient as the two had made many contributions to the project and the country.

But prosecutors said Friday that the consequences caused by the violations were far more serious than the court recognized.

As a result, they demanded longer jail terms from 10 to 15 years for Si and Qua. Before the court handed down the sentence last month, prosecutors had demanded only up to six years.

A source told Thanh Nien that after the court Le Qua requested to be given a suspended sentence due to poor health.

Japan, Vietnam’s largest donor, suspended aid temporarily in August 2008 after the graft case broke out.

The country is expected to grant $1.5 billion in aid to Vietnam in 2009, surpassing the record $1.1 billion in 2007.

Reported by Le Nga