Vietnam to Review Second Death Sentence after Family Says Unfairly Tried

 

 

By Vu Quoc Ngu | VNHRDs

Dec 24, 2014

The Standing Committee of Vietnam’s legislative body National Assembly (NA) will send its team to review the death sentence of Nguyen Van Chuong, who was found guilty in a murder case of a police officer in the northern city of Haiphong, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.

The move came after the committee received complaints of Chuong’s family saying that he was unfairly tried and forced to commit the guilty after being tortured during investigations by Haiphong police.

The working team will work with Haiphong’s authorities on the case in early January next year, the newspaper said.

Hai Duong province-based legislator Le Dinh Khanh said that he received a petition from Chuong’s family and found the death sentence unconvinced and authorities should work further to clarify and avoid justice miscarriage. He reported the case to the NA’s Standing Committee few days ahead of the execution which is slated later this month.

According to the verdict, Hai Duong province-based Nguyen Van Chuong, 31, and two other friends were accused of killing Nguyen Van Sinh, a police officer in Haiphong city on July 14, 2008. The trio had used knife to attack Sinh in Dong Hai ward in Hai An district in evening of the day.

In 2008, the People’s Court in Haiphong city and the Supreme People’s Court sentenced Chuong to death penalty while the two others Do Van Hoang and Vu Toan Trung were sentenced to life imprisonment and 23-year jail, respectively.

Over the past eight years, Mr. Chuong’s parents have sent numerous petitions to state agencies to complain about unfair hearings on which a number of evidence on favor of his son was ignored.

Lawyer Hoang Van Quanh, who defended Mr. Chuong in the trial and the appeal, said he was not given good conditions to protect his client. His 23-page defense statement for Mr. Chuong with 20 questions about the eligibility of accusation was rejected.

Chuong’s case has drawn attention from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which pledged to work with Vietnam’s authorities to bring justice to him and his family.

Chuong is the second death-sentenced prisoner whose execution has been postponed for re-investigation in December after the prisoners and their families complained of unfair trials and torture.

In early December, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang demanded the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuracy to verify the death sentence of Ho Duy Hai from the southern province of Long An, whose execution planned on Dec 5 was cancelled by the country’s president one day earlier.

Police torture is systemic in Vietnam, according to local media and international human rights bodies.

Earlier this year, Nguyen Thanh Chan in the northern province of Bac Giang was released after ten years in prison on wrong accusation of killing one local. He demanded a compensation of VND10 billion ($500,000) for the wrong sentence and police torture after the real murder in the case confessed his sin.

Recently, Vietnam ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment which is expected to halt police power abuse. (tuoitre.vn Dec 24)

 

Return to main page