A Vietnamese business journalist has been arrested for allegedly attempting to bribe a company to keep a story that would embarrass the business out of his newspaper, according to wire reports.
A Deutsche Presse Agentur reported stated, “Nguyen Hung Son, 37, has been a reporter for Dien Dan Doanh Nghiep (Business Forum) newspaper for 10 years.
“He was accused of blackmailing officials from Hai Van Transport, a company that operates buses, saying he had evidence of unspecified company wrongdoing and demanding 10,000 dollars to keep the story out of his newspaper, police said.
“He was arrested Sunday night after police searched his home and seized documents, according to Tran Cong Quy, an official with the Ministry of Public Security’s Economic Security Department.
“‘It is not uncommon that reporters ask for money from businesses, but this is the first time we have arrested a reporter for blackmail,’ Quy said.
“The chief editor of Business Forum, Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, said he was shocked at the arrest and that Son would be ‘seriously punished.'”
Read the story here. Don’t you just wonder what “seriously punished” means?
