Ho Duy Hai case: witness Dinh Vu Thuong personally denounces

Recent public opinion flared with pity when people heard that Ho Duy Hai was thin, pale, and exhausted because he lost faith in the possibility that the National Assembly, the Procuracy, and the Supreme People’s Court would reconsider for him.

At the same time, Chief of the Supreme Justice Nguyen Hoa Binh reported to the National Assembly that: “No wrong conviction has been found yet

Chief of Supreme Justice Nguyen Hoa Binh in the cassation trial of the death penalty sentence of Ho Duy Hai

The trial of criminal cases in the past year has ensured the right person, right crime, right law, injustice, wrong, omitted crimes,” according to the report of the Supreme People’s Court sent to the National Assembly.

Hot news (not very happy) about death row inmate Ho Duy Hai was reported by FB Thang Soi:

On October 15, 2020, Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan had a visit to death row inmate Ho Duy Hai after four months. Hai as described by Mrs. Loan has never been so sick (thin). Hai is pale, thin, has a lot of hair loss, and still has a lot of white hairs even though he is only 35 years old.

Hai’s spirit is not good. Hai is depressed for being in prison for so long. Hai seems like he has lost all his hope, not willing to hear encouragement from his younger sister and  mother.

Last month meeting with his sister Hai was even more optimistic and healthy. After only a month, for unknown reasons, Hai became like that.

The atmosphere, the meeting space is no longer “easy to breathe” like the previous times.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan sadly confirmed the physical and mental exhaustion of Ho Duy Hai during her visit to her child on October 14, 2020.

The reason for mental exhaustion is that Ho Duy Hai did not see positive signals about his wrongful case would be resolved by the competent authorities. “They haven’t solved anything for me in the past ten years, they just do it their way,” Ho Duy Hai told his mother with utter frustration.

FB Khai Hoan commented:

Thirteen years locked up in a dark room. Flattering, starvation, torture … there’s nothing to compensate for!”

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Loan, mother of death row inmate Ho Duy Hai

FB Tuyet Tuong wrote:

I feel pity for Ms. Loan so much. Extreme suffering. Cry until the last tears. Please release HDH! ”

FB Chon Kim Bui said pessimistic:

This case will be ignored, no one will solve it, although the people speak up a lot!”

A new news that is helping to brighten the details of the case, hopefully Ho Duy Hai, is the appearance of important witness Dinh Vu Thuong, whom the Procuracy said he  voluntarily recognized Ho Duy Hai although Thuong said completely differently.

However, with a blunt transparency to the end, Mr. Dinh Vu Thuong denounced the intentional borrowing of his name in order to add completely inaccurate statements to the records and indictments of the police investigation agency and the Long An province’s People’s Procuracy.

With this new fact, lawyer Tran Hong Phong and the family of defendant Ho Duy Hai recently continued to petition, at the same time denouncing the act of intentionally falsifying the case file and proposing a “re- appraisal.”

In this new application, lawyer Tran Hong Phong denounced by name investigator Le Thanh Trung, for the act of intentionally falsifying the above case file.

Attached to this application is witness Dinh Vu Thuong’s appeal. Mr. Thuong filed a complaint denouncing that his statements, as Mr. Thuong said, had been “added” and “his signature was faked.”

The content of the appeal also has other new details, is the confirmation of the character named Nguyen Mi Sol, known as the boyfriend of Hong, ơn of the two victims.

Witness Dinh Vu Thuong responded to the reporter about the whole incident at Cau Voi Post Office and confirmed that he completely did not identify Ho Duy Hai there, contrary to what was recorded in the indictment

Mr. Mi Sol confirmed that he was given testimony on January 14-15, 2008. But in the case file, only the testimony of this character was taken by the police in June 2008 (after arresting Ho Duy Hai).

The appeal was sent to President Nguyen Phu Trong, the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Judicial Committee of the National Assembly, the Supreme People’s Court; the Supreme People’s Procuracy; National Assembly deputies and press agencies.

Late afternoon of October 25, 2020 – Tuoi Tre Newspaper reports that the Judicial Committee of the National Assembly was reporting to the competent authorities on the Ho Duy Hai case!

The authorities here are: the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and the National Assembly!

Up to this point, Ho Duy Hai’s case has undergone two levels of trial: the first-instance and the appeal.

At the same time, this case has also undergone special proceedings: Cassation Review of the entire Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court – the highest and final level of trial in the Vietnamese judicial system!

Chief Justice Nguyen Hoa Binh and 17/17 judges of the Supreme People’s Court voted to pronounce the death penalty of Ho Duy Hai

Lawyer Dang Ba Ky gives the following possible scenarios:

“1. The first possibility: If requested by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court shall report to the Council of Judges of the Supreme People’s Court to review the decision of the Council of Judges.

For states with a Constitutional Court, or an independent Tribunal, that may be different. But with the current legal regulations, if the situation arises, but the Council of Judges of the Supreme Court still defends its opinion, that is, it does not accept the request of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, then theoretically that, the National Assembly will dismiss and remove from office all the current Judges, and then appoint a brand new panel to reconsider the case. But sure, that will never happen.

In the event that the Judicial Council of the Supreme Court accepts the request of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Panel of Judges will remove the first instance judgment, cancel the Court of Appeal, cancel the Cassation Review and immediately declare Duy Hai is innocent or to re-investigate from the beginning!

The scene photo of the case file shows a series of locations where fingerprints were supposed to have but absolutely no fingerprints of Ho Duy Hai

2. Second possibility: If the Judicial Committee of the National Assembly, the Chief Procurator of the Supreme People’s Procuracy petition, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court requests, the Council of Judges of the Supreme People’s Court open a meeting to consider such recommendations and proposals.

Contrary to the first possibility, with this second possibility: the Supreme Court Council of Judges, is not required to open a session to review its own Judges decision but will go through two steps:

Step 1: The Council of Judges of the Supreme Court will open a session, to consider to see whether the proposal is reasonable, that is, there is a legal basis and any grounds. If the Panel of Judges thinks that there is no ground, it has the right not to open the reconsideration session.

Step 2: If the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court unanimously reconsider its decision, the Judicial Council will open a meeting (Called the Second Session) to review the cassation’s decision as well as the case. This Step 2 has content exactly the same as Possibility 1 mentioned above.

In the case of the Council of Judges of the Supreme Court, accepting the request of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, or accepting the proposals or recommendations of the Judiciary Committee, the President of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court – then the Council of Judges will: Cancellation of the first instance, cancel the Appeal judgment, cancel the Cassation Review Decision, at the same time: Immediately declare Ho Duy Hai innocent or to investigate the case again from the beginning!

The statement of Mr. Phung Phung Hieu, who is the first witness, but 3 years later, the first testimony is given, but not by the police investigation but the Procuracy, after Ho Duy Hai being sentenced to death and verdict became effect 3 years earlier

II. Outstanding issues in laws and legal issues

In this case, “some senior officials” said that: Although the investigation of the Case had shortcomings, based on the “Reasonableness” of many other details such as: Why the perpetrator knows the location storing gold and the belongings at the scene …. So it is reasonable to confirm that Hai is guilty! However, in the same way, when in the opposite direction, you will find that: The unreasonable details that can be used to prove that Hai is guilty, is much more than that:

   1. In many times they all said before the case: Ho Duy Hai and the victims were chating and flirting, caressing each other – But the police did not find any fingerprints ?? !!

   2. The killer killed two girls with a knife, cutting board, not a professional killer, also struggled with the victims, but there was no fingerprints at all ?? !!

   3. The perpetrator claimed, after killing the victims, he came to wash his hands, clean the faucet, and strangely enough, he did not leave any fingerprints ?? !!

   4. The time of the victim’s death, which is not clearly confirmed, leads to the misidentification of alibi of other suspects?? !!!

   5. The culprit of the crime is the knife, cutting board ….. the tools can be used for identification of the perpetrator had been disappeared from the human world, not a bit of ruins? ?? !!!

In a case with so many irrationalities – The question is: Why not let the case be investigated and tried again from the beginning ?! Just cancel the sentence to re-investigate without declaring Hai’s innocence! So why, not let the case have a chance to turn around once, to review, resolve, and reassess the whole. By then, no matter what the outcome may be when everything is clear, everyone must be in awe! And also no one to torment or blame each other ?! Why they do not give such an opportunity ?!” lawyer Dang Ba Ky stated his opinion.

Thoibao.de (Translated)

Kasse animation 7.8.2023