‘Recognizing the right to silence is a plot against the people,” National Assembly deputy says

 

VNRN - May 30, 2015

Whether or not to recognize the right to silence is one of the most hotly debated topics at the annual National Assembly meeting, which takes place from May 20 to June 26 this year. The debate was sparked off when Mr. Do Van Duong, a deputy from Ho Chi Minh City,  expressed his concern that supporting the right to remain silent meant a plot of “peaceful evolution” that goes against the people.

Speaking before the National Assembly on May 27, Mr. Do Van Duong said he believed that the draft law regarding the right to silence would only benefit the perpetrators.

“This law almost gives the perpetrators the right to remain silent. It does not compel the perpetrator to testify or to confess, so it clearly implies that any perpetrator can keep his mouth shut. So how can we deal with a perpetrator who declines to testify or to confess? We just need to make it clear that the accused is allowed to express his opinions and, most importantly, to oppose extortion and torture. But this does not mean that the perpetrator can stay silent. Otherwise, if you support it [the right to silence], it means you hatch a plot of “peaceful evolution” that goes against the people,” Mr. Do Van Duong was quoted by the Phap luat TP.HCM as saying.

His opinions were shared by other deputies who are holding high position in police forces. Major General Trinh Xuyen, Director of the Thanh Hoa police body, insisted that the right to silence is “very nonsensical” and “absolutely irrelevant” to the current situation in Vietnam “where the people’s general knowledge is limited.” He was worried that this right would cause difficulties for the prosecutors. Likewise, Major General Le Dong Phong, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City police department, said, “The accused may not be compelled to admit guilt, but we should not imitate foreign countries by allowing them not to confess.”

However, another deputy from Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Tran Du Lich, said he disagreed with Mr. Do Van Duong. “The burden of proof falls on the law enforcement body, not on the accused. Evidence is more significant than testimonials,” he said.

Mr. Do Van Duong, 55, holds a doctorate in law and has been a member of the Vietnamese National Assembly since 2011. He is known for many provocative quotations, such as “the right to silence is not a human right” and “prisoners in Vietnam now are happier than students in the past.”

 

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