December 9, 2014

Vietnam President Demands Verifying Death Sentence of Long An-based Convict

by • Ho Duy Hai

Pin
Hồ Duy Hải lúc ra trước tòa. – thanhnien.com.vn

Hồ Duy Hải lúc ra trước tòa. – thanhnien.com.vn

by Vu Quoc Ngu, Dec 8, 2014

Defend the Defenders

Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang has demanded the Supreme Court and the Supreme 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.
The president ordered the two agencies to clarify whether there are justice miscarriage during investigation, prosecution and trials of Mr. Ho Duy Hai, who was sentenced to death seven years ago for killing two female post staffs in Nhi Thanh commune in Thu Thua district despite the lack of strong evidence against him.
Mr. Sang requested the two agencies to report the case before Jan 1 next year, one month after granting suspension of the execution.
During the past seven years, Mr. Hai’s mother has sought justice for her son as she sent petitions to many state agencies, asking for re-investigation into the case.
His case has attracted attention from many local civil societies and people who have voiced online, asking the president to suspend the sentence’s implementation for further investigation to avoid violations during investigation and unfair trials.
According to the Doi Song & Phap Luat newspaper of the Vietnam Lawyers Association, there were serious violations during the investigation of the local police and the trials, including using fake evidence against Mr. Hai.
In Vietnam police has absolute power and the role of lawyers is limited. A number of people were wrongfully sentenced to death and heavy imprisonments in murder cases during the past decade.

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

Pin