The news that model and lingerie queen Ngoc Trinh was probed and detained for three months, after the case of the “circus” beauty on a motorbike, accused of disturbing public order, caused a stir in public opinion.
This caused the drama namely Southern Forest Land to last for many days, cooling down immediately, to make room for Ngoc Trinh’s hot news.
According to Thanh Nien newspaper, on the afternoon of October 19, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Agency (PC01) decided to probe the case and temporarily detained the defendant Tran Thi Ngoc Trinh (also known as model Ngoc Trinh) and defendant Tran Xuan Dong. The detention period of these defendants is 3 months.
The probe and temporary detention of “lingerie queen” Ngoc Trinh were simultaneously reported by state media, including the Government Electronic newspaper. All of them share the same accusation, “which is a warning lesson for the behavior of disregarding ‘view baiting’ especially for those with influence on social networks.” This has shown that this is a very “unusual” event.
The majority of netizens and lawyers do not agree, and there are even many criticisms, saying that the Vietnamese Police arbitrary arrest whoever they want. This shows a “lawless” justice system in Vietnam.
Regarding the reason why Ngoc Trinh was detained, Ho Chi Minh City Police determined:
“… Ngoc Trinh’s motorbike performance occurred on a public road, causing a negative impact on the security and order situation in the locality.
And every time she performs, Ngoc Trinh posts clips on social network accounts with millions of followers. That has had a negative impact and adversely affected security and order in cyberspace; negatively affects the awareness, lifestyle and behavioral culture of young people.
The clips also have objectionable content and violate the Ministry of Information and Communications’ rules of conduct on social networks, so they need to be prevented and handled promptly.”
With the above allegations, according to Thanh Nien newspaper, model Ngoc Trinh was probed for “disturbing public order” prescribed in Article 318 of the Criminal Code. Thus, Ngoc Trinh will likely face a prison sentence of 2 to 7 years.
This event has been strongly criticized by lawyers in Vietnam, considering it an arbitrary arrest without legal basis by the Ho Chi Minh City Police. The fact that Ms. Ngoc Trinh posted the clip on social networks only violated the regulations on using social networks and cannot be “arrested.” That is too much abuse.
Lawyer Phung Thanh Son asked on his personal Facebook page whether this prosecution is “convincing” and whether there is “a basis for temporary detention” of this female model?
According to attorney Son, the incident took place on a deserted road, did not obstruct traffic, the purpose was just to perform to make a video to attract likes.
The police’s probe of Ngoc Trinh stemmed from the proposal of the People’s Committee of Thu Thiem ward, where she “demonstrated” her motorbike. If the court accepts charges against Ngoc Trinh according to the police’s allegations, it will become a new “precedent” of a new legal act, which is the act of disturbing social order on social networks. This is something that the current Criminal Code has not “kept up with.”
As for lawyer Nguyen Danh Hue, he said: “Ngoc Trinh’s behavior clearly violates the law, because it ‘negatively affects security, order and social safety’ but probed and especially arrested her in this case, I think is unnecessary!
Because the Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that first-time offenders and less serious crimes should not be detained, in reality, temporary detention is quite widespread and police always have enough reason to reason to justify detention.”
According to lawyer Nguyen Danh Hue, the law should be amended accordingly, in a way that minimizes the arrest of suspects for temporary detention. This not only ensures human rights, saves costs from the state budget, and reduces the load on detention camps.
There is a dangerous and alarming situation, in which the Vietnamese Police arbitrary arrest whoever they want, and have full authority to impose charges on the arrested, completely not based on the provisions of law.
The current Vietnam Criminal Code has provisions on “Crime of abusing positions and powers, illegally arresting and detaining people” stipulated in Article 157 of the 2015 Criminal Code, with penalties maximum sentence is up to 12 years in prison.
Public figures like Ngoc Trinh, Nguyen Phuong Hang, etc. can always become reactionary if there are too many supporters and followers. For the current Vietnamese Communist state apparatus, celebrities are a potential threat to the regime.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
