Dong Tam massacre: Vietnam’s state-controlled media says killing 84-year-old Kinh is legal

Authorities in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi have proposed to prosecute 29 people in Dong Tam for “murdering” and “resisting on-duty state officials.”

Author Binh Minh has a commentary titled:

Killing the elderly in his bedroom in his private house is legal!”

Dan Tri newspaper quoted police saying: “It is legal to have a shooting to kill Le Dinh Kinh”

Complaints of Ms. Thanh and many journalists, lawyers, intellectuals, intellectuals … requesting state agencies to investigate the murderer of Mr. Kinh were considered unfounded.”

Here it is, Dan Dan newspaper replied: the Hanoi police was killing Mr. Kinh, and after finishing killing, they also replied that “in accordance with the law“!

Vietnam’s highest legislative body National Assembly has to form a judicial committee to investigate which laws the Hanoi police used as during a night time to deploy thousands of riot policemen to attack a private residence and kill the elderly who has 58-year party membership.

The murdered elderly has not been convicted by any court, and no procuracy agency has issued an order to approve the brutal assault in Dong Tam commune in early January.

Activist Thao Teresa from Hanoi wrote on her Facebook:

No need for a court, rushing into the house to shoot people dead. One shot to the heart, two times to the head, one to the knee, followed by a laparotomy. All the Communist has done that to an 84-year-old “is legal.”

What law of mankind allows the carrying of guns to people’s homes and killing people without a court judgment?” Lawyer Ha Huy Son asks questions.

Some comments in Hanoi expressed disagreement after police investigation agency of Hanoi City Police Department issued a conclusion of investigation into the case in Dong Tam commune, My Duc district, Hanoi on January 9 this year after more than 5 months of the incident and proposed to prosecute 29 people.

According to the Vietnam News Agency, the Hanoi police concluded that “the accused repeatedly poured gasoline into the pit and lit a fire, which was the direct cause of the death of three police officers.”

In Le Dinh Kinh’s bedroom, there are still countless bullet holes in the wall and through the safe – photos collected by Professor Hoang Xuan Phu at the scene

This is a barbaric, hooliganistic act that aims to kill many people and needs to be strictly punished to ensure the lawfulness of the law,” the News Agency reported.

Immediately, a number of activists from Vietnam and members of the legal profession protested.

From Hanoi, writer Nguyen Nguyen Binh (former Lieutenant Colonel of the Vietnam People’s Army) said she had correctly predicted the actions of the police and the Hanoi government:

I just read through the newspaper in Thanh Nien newspaper, and found that my prediction was correct. A few days ago, Facebooker Trinh Ba Phuong reported that many state officials have brought a lot of worship to one temple in Dong Tam area where they prayed for several days. Many people judged that they trageded crimes against people and Mr. Kinh and local people who fought against corruption and illegal land grabbing, so they were afraid of retribution and prayed God not punish them.”

I guess that is not the case. I said maybe they could prepare something new for Dong Tam people. And this move might be worse than what they did to Dong Tam people.

It is true that today, they have spread public opinion to label Dong Tam people like terrorists and their acts this time ere more severe than before. They prepare to apply hard sentences for detained land petitioners.

It is terrible. There is no sign that they still have any conscience when handling such a case with Dong Tam!

From Duong Noi, Ha Dong and Hanoi, activist Trinh Ba Phuong commented:

In my opinion, this is not the conclusion of an investigation from an independent agency under the supervision of the National Assembly or international organizations.”

The second is that the investigation by the police investigation agency in Hanoi City is completely unbiased. Because the police department at the same level participated in the attack and murdered Mr. Le Dinh Kinh early on the morning of January 9 but they also took major role in the investigation so there is no transparency and fair in this case.”

Activists in Hanoi came to survey the technical pit where the police said 3 police officers were burned to death

The case details are likely to be misleading, besides there are signs of forced corporal punishment for those arrested, many appearing on VTV1 with many traces of torture.”

Many lawyers have not yet met their clients, some have only been able to meet once. So the investigation process lacks the lawyers, so I think the testimony does not ensure transparency in accordance with the procedural law.”

Regarding the death of the three policemen who participated in the attack on Dong Tam, many have analyzed closely that it was not caused by the people of Dong Tam.”

I think that with this conclusion of the investigation, the fate of 25 of the 29 Dong Tam people arrested could face a very heavy sentence. And I think that to have justice for the people of Dong The mind needs more than the voice of public opinion and in particular human rights organizations as well as governments of democratic countries.”

Ministry of Public Security mobilizes 3,000 riot policemen in the middle of the night. Night images of professional dogs, morning photos showing soldiers wearing bulletproof vests with sufficient specialized equipment

From the Institute of Policy, Law and Development, of the Vietnam Union of Science & Technology Associations (Vusta), Director of the Associate Professor Hoang Ngoc Giao told the BBC:

My first comment was that when the case happened until now, it could be said that it was a very long time and only now has the conclusions reached.”

However, the conclusion of this investigation is creating disturbance in the public opinion because after the incident happened, there was independent information that at the scene there was no sign of ‘burning alive’ three police officers. There was a lot of information and conflict analysis in the event called the three police officers who were said to be burned at the scene.”

It is illogical three police officers were burned at night by local people while thousands of policemen were around. Where were the other police officers and why they couldn’t save the three officers who were with protective clothes?

In the case of formal logic alone, it is hard to argue that this event occurs as the conclusion of the investigation said is information that is reliable and has sufficient evidence. Likewise, there are Many questions raised about the true basis of the fact that Le Dinh Kinh attacked and actively attacked the police before his death.

So this is my subjective assessment that whether these things are or not is an issue that the public needs to clarify with concrete, public and transparent evidence.”

And I hope, if the trial is to be opened, this trial needs to be fully attended by lawyers with all of its procedural rights, in order to clarify all relevant evidence,” Mr. Hoang Ngoc Giao stated the point.

Ms. Du Thi Thanh told me she was beaten by police and saw them beating her grandchildren “I saw the police beat my children very cruelly, then dragged them out onto the street, all were dragged When I went to the Mieu Mon station, I saw the police officers beat my children and grandchildren again, kicked them in their bellies and I thought my son name Cong would die right there. I don’t think he is still alive.”

And I am also studying the conclusion of the investigation law, and we are planning to meet the families of the litigants, people in Dong Tam and contact the defendants, there, when the information is clearer, we will be able to speak, comment in more detail and more fully,” another lawyer who doesn’t want to reveal his identity, told the BBC.

What did the state media say?

Talking about the death of Mr. Le Dinh Kinh, Thanh Nien described:

The forensic conclusion No. 02/20 / GĐPY of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine identified the cause of death of Mr. Le Dinh Kinh as “the ultimate blood loss due to lung damage, aortic perforation, the consequences of 2 injuries caused by straight bullets.”

Regarding the course of events leading to the death of Mr. Le Dinh Kinh, the investigation conclusion said that, after the dawn clash on Jan 9, some officials of the working group took a professional dog around left corner, close to the back door of Mr. Le Dinh Kinh’s house.

When breaking the lock on the nook (the door to the kitchen), the task force found Mr. Le Dinh Kinh holding a grenade in his right hand, standing close to the inner bedroom door, with his back to the task team. The team shot him twice at his back, and he fell into the room, his head inwards, legs toward the door of the room,” the investigation concluded.

Thoibao.de (Translated)