At the regular press conference of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the afternoon of January 12, Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang answered questions from the press about the latest information related to the case of 39 Vietnamese people dying in a truck in the UK in 2019.
Accordingly, British media recently reported that the court had issued an order to confiscate 180,000 pounds (more than 217,000 USD) from the owner of a transport company related to the death of 39 Vietnamese people to compensate the victims' families.
Ms. Pham Thu Hang said that according to the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK, on January 6, 2023, the UK Supreme Criminal Court issued a verdict on Ronan Hughes - the head of an illegal human trafficking ring serving a 20-year prison sentence - to be confiscated assets worth up to £180,000 to compensate the families of the victims who died in the 2019 case.
"We know that this verdict is only an initial legal decision. The enforcement of the judgment can be complicated, requiring a relatively long processing time according to the procedures of English law" - Ms. Pham Thu Hang noted.
The Deputy Spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that in case Ronan Hughes does not enforce the verdict on compensation for the victims, the sentence will be increased by 2 years in prison.
Also according to Deputy Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK to continue to contact British authorities to closely monitor the incident, update information, and be ready to deploy necessary measures to ensure the rights, rights and legitimate interests of Vietnamese citizens.
According to Essex police, British police, Ronan Hughes, 43, in Armagh, Northern Ireland, admitted to 39 counts of murder and 1 count of illegal immigration assistance. Ronan Hughes was sentenced to 20 years in prison on January 20, 2022. The money seized by Hughes included cash and other assets such as machinery and real estate owned by Hughes in Leitrim, Monaghan County.
