Final Days
After retiring from politics, Kiệt lived in Ho Chi Minh City. Since then, he had spoken out on many issues, and was seen as a defender of people's rights.
Võ Văn Kiệt was the highest-ranking former government official to have openly spoken out about reconciliation with Vietnamese exiles and democracy activists. Recently, he had spoken out against the proposed expansion of Hanoi and the demolition of the historic National Assembly building in Ba Đình Square to make place for a new one.
Kiệt was admitted to Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital on June 3, 2008 with unspecified ailments and died at the age of 85 on early Wednesday, June 11, 2008.
State media did not announce his death until the night of June 12, after most foreign news agencies had already reported it and many foreign dignitaries had already offered condolences, including United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The government of Vietnam announced a state funeral on June 14 and 15 to be held in the Reunification Palace (Ho Chi Minh City), Hanoi, and his birth province Vĩnh Long.
Read more about this topic: Vo Van Kiet
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