At the first sentence trial. VNA/VNS Photo

HCMC – Former Health Minister Nguyễn Thanh Long and Phan Quốc Việt, the general director of Viet Á Technology Corporation, have filed appeals against their initial imprisonment sentences related to their involvement in the Viet Á test kit price gouging case.

Since the Hà Nội People’s Court issued sentences against 38 defendants in the case over a month ago, it has received appeals from 12 individuals.

Long and Việt are seeking reductions in their penalties, while Vũ Đình Hiệp, Việt A's deputy general director, has requested a reconsideration of his case.

Other defendants, including Trịnh Thanh Hung, former deputy head of the Department of Science and Technology; Phạm Duy Tuyến, former director of the Center for Disease Control in Hải Dương Province; Nguyễn Nam Liên, former head of the health ministry’s Financial Planning Department; Trần Thị Hồng, a Việt Á employee; and Lê Thị Hồng Xuyên, a former employee of Bình Dương CDC, are also seeking mitigations of their sentences.

The Hà Nội court handed down sentences against 38 defendants in the Việt Á case on January 12. Nguyễn Thanh Long received an 18-year jail sentence for accepting bribes, while Phan Quốc Việt was sentenced to 29 years behind bars for bribery and violating bidding regulations.

Vũ Đình Hiệp was sentenced to 15 years in prison for violating bidding regulations and bribery, while Trịnh Thanh Hùng received a 14-year prison term for bribery.

Other defendants faced sentences for various charges, including bribery, abuse of authority, violating bidding regulations, and leveraging influence for personal gain. VNS