Mogul Kien pleads innocent

April 16, 2014 | 22:02

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Former vice chair of ACB Bank, Nguyen Duc Kien, denied the charges against him by the Supreme People's Procuracy and demanded to confront several people related to the case.

Nguyen Duc Kien at the trial on April 16, 2014.

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Kien said, "I'm being charged with illegal business activities, but all of my businesses were given permission to operate by authorities."

Kien asked the court to summon the Business Registration Office of HMC City, Hanoi and representatives of Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance and State Bank. He requested the presence of the Government Office because, he said, the government granted permits for several projects and authourised the Ministry of Planning and Investment to grant him licenses.

"I'm being charged with four offenses even though I've given written and spoken testimony declaring my innocence many times over the past 20 months. That's why I want the court to expose the true nature of this case to the public," he said. Kien said that he refused to wear the prison uniform because it is one of his basic rights and demanded prison officers to not cuff his ankles. "This method of restriction is inappropriate, please stop using it on me," he said.

The lawyers wanted to delay the trial because of the absence of several individuals and representatives related to the case. Dao Van Cuong, deputy head of the Hanoi People's Procuracy requested that the trial continue. He said, "Even though some people are not in attendance we have their testimony, so we can continue with the trial. Moreover, the trial is expected to be long (15 days) so the court can still summon them later if necessary."

However, after conferring, the court postponed the trial because of the absence of the former chairman of ACB Tran Xuan Gia.

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