The public, filled with frustration, has vented indignation. The 54 defendants who are standing trial at a court in Hanoi City over their grave violations related to the repatriation flights have been excessively shameful due to their inhuman corruption during the Covid-19 pandemic. But several inevasible questions have arisen from the court trial, and if not duly answered, they would lead to similar, if not more serious, violations recurring in the future. It is because, at length, the success of the anti-corruption campaign does not rest on the number of violators being punished, but rather the capacity to ward off corrupt practices to an extent that there are few – or ideally no – violators to be indicted. The first question centers on why the so-called repatriation flights meant to implement the State’s humanitarian policy were not executed by State agencies, but they were handed over to businesses while the relevant State agencies retained licensing powers, resulting in bribe giving and taking. Dr. Nguyen Sy Dung, former vice chair of the National Assembly Office, gave his reasoning in an article in Tuoi Tre on July 16: Arranging repatriation flights was a humanitarian policy of the Party and the State. The […]