A lawyer was assaulted by an investigator while presenting his client.
On May 17, the head of a branch of a Hanoi-based reported on social media that a lawyer of the company was assaulted in the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Division, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department.
According to our understanding, the person beaten was lawyer Le Hoang Tung, who was present at the police station at that time to protect the interests of his client, a woman who was accused of fraudulent appropriation of property.
The person accused of assaulting the lawyer is an investigator named Tran Duc Minh, from Team 8 of the Criminal Investigation Division.
According to the working minutes between lawyer Tung and the Criminal Investigation Division posted on social media by the law firm’s people, there was disagreement between the lawyer and the investigator during the argument about a criminal denunciation of which Tung’s client is the accused.
Investigator Tran Duc Minh then suddenly knocked Tung down and punched and kicked the lawyer repeatedly on his body and head, causing him to have a nosebleed and pain in the head in the presence of another lawyer.
Information about the incident was then transferred to the Investigative Police Department – Ho Chi Minh City Police, through a denunciation and an injury assessment request written by lawyer Le Hoang Tung personally.
A reporter from Radio Free Asia contacted the law firm Everest Ltd. and confirmed the information about the incident, and was told that this was the first time this company had encountered a case of a lawyer being assaulted by the police.
A lawyer with extensive experience in working with the police agency told us on condition of anonymity that the police always consider lawyers an obstacle, but assaulting a lawyer at the headquarters of the law enforcement is rare, so this is a serious case:
“It is not surprising to me that the investigative agency causes difficulties for lawyers, because the police have long held a grudge against the legal profession because we speak up to protect our clients and would compromise their investigative authority, or make it difficult for them to investigate.
Regarding lawyer Tung was beaten, I was also quite surprised, because so far, although the police have caused difficulties for lawyers, it is quite rare for them to blatantly beat the lawyer right at the police headquarters.”
According to the anonymous lawyer, this incident will create negative consequences for society if not handled properly:
“It tarnishes the image of public authorities and weakens the image of lawyers in the eyes of clients and Vietnam’s public.
Even the lawyers themselves are not respected and can’t even protect themselves, so can they protect their clients or others?!”
Reporters repeatedly called the phone number of the Office of the Investigation Police Agency, the City Police. HCM verified the incident but no one answered.
On the afternoon of July 18, Tuoi Tre newspaper published a news report, citing its own source, confirming that the Criminal Investigation Division (PC02) of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department had transferred the denunciation of Mr. Le Hoang Tung to the Police Investigation Agency (PC01) of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department to handle according to its competence.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
