17 years of wrongful murder conviction of the century-long prisoner Huynh Van Nen

The Head of the Investigation Police Agency, Binh Thuan Provincial Police, has presented Mr. Huynh Van Nen with a decision to suspend the investigation of the suspect.

The Investigation Police Agency of Binh Thuan Province Police has issued a decision to suspend the investigation of the suspect Huynh Van Nen (residing in Tan Minh Commune, now Tan Minh Town). This agency determined that Mr. Nen's actions "do not constitute the crime of 'Murder and Robbery'".

On the morning of November 28, at the People's Committee of Tan Minh town, Ham Tan, Binh Thuan, Colonel Pham That, Deputy Director of Binh Thuan Provincial Police, Head of the Investigation Police Agency, Binh Thuan Provincial Police, presented Mr. Huynh Van Nen with a decision to suspend the investigation of the accused.

Mr. Nen signed the decision to suspend the defendant on the morning of November 28.

According to the Decision dated November 27 of the Investigation Police Agency, Binh Thuan Provincial Police, there is no basis to convict Mr. Nen of killing Ms. Le Thi Bong on April 23, 1998.

On the night of April 23, 1998, Ms. Le Thi Bong was murdered at her house in Hamlet 2, Tan Minh Commune (now Tan Minh Town, Ham Tan, Binh Thuan). At that time, Mr. Huynh Van Nen did not have a stable job, committed a number of thefts, and burned down the huts of people in the village, so he was suspected of being the culprit who killed Ms. Bong. On May 17, 1998, Mr. Huynh Van Nen was arrested by the Investigation Police Agency, Binh Thuan Provincial Police. Mr. Nen confessed to killing Ms. Bong to steal a 1-tael gold ring.

In October 1998, Mr. Nen confessed that he and many members of his wife's family killed Ms. Duong Thi My in a cashew garden in village 2, on the night of May 18, 1993, into the morning of May 19, 1993. After 4 months of investigation, on September 22, 1993, the Investigation Police Agency of Binh Thuan Province Police had to issue a decision to suspend the investigation. Based on Mr. Nen's testimony, on December 2, 1998, Binh Thuan Province Police resumed the investigation into the murder of Ms. My, prosecuting Mr. Huynh Van Nen, Mr. Nen's wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Cam, Mr. Nen's mother-in-law, 4 biological sisters and 2 biological grandchildren of Ms. Cam, and Mr. Tran Van Sang, Ms. Cam's brother-in-law, a total of 10 people. That case later became a famous wrongful conviction, known as the "cashew garden case".

On August 26, 2000, an inmate at Song Cai Prison (Ninh Thuan), Nguyen Phuc Thanh, filed a complaint against Nguyen Tho and Ho Van Viet, both from Tan Minh Commune, for killing Ms. Bong, and Mr. Nen was not the perpetrator. However, at the first instance trial of Ms. Bong's case on August 31, 2000, the People's Court of Binh Thuan Province still determined that defendant Huynh Van Nen was the perpetrator of Ms. Bong's murder, a danger to the people, and should be sentenced to the highest penalty of death. However, because Mr. Nen had confessed to the murder of Ms. Duong Thi My, the Court allowed Mr. Nen to enjoy mitigating circumstances and sentenced him to life in prison for murder. Combined with the sentence of 5 years in prison for "robbery of citizens' property" and "intentional destruction of citizens' property", Mr. Nen must serve a life sentence.

At the end of September 2000, Mr. Nguyen Than, Chairman of the People's Committee of Tan Minh Commune, made a report on Mr. Nguyen Phuc Thanh's accusation, requesting that law enforcement agencies urgently clarify it. On October 20, 2000, Lawyer Nguyen Hong Ha, Khanh Hoa Province Bar Association, who was defending the defendants in the "cashew garden case", filed a petition stating that Mr. Nguyen Phuc Thanh had accused Nguyen Tho and Ho Van Viet of killing Mrs. Bong, requesting the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court and the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuracy to appeal the final judgment of Mrs. Bong's case, to cancel the case and reinvestigate from the beginning. The requests of Mr. Nguyen Than and Lawyer Nguyen Hong Ha were not accepted.

Decision to suspend the defendant Huynh Van Nen.

On October 23, 2000, Mr. Nen filed an appeal, requesting a reduction in his sentence. The Court of Appeal, Supreme People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City did not accept Mr. Nen's late appeal. On March 7, 2001, the People's Court of Binh Thuan Province held the first instance trial of the "Cashew Garden Case". Previously, defendant Nguyen Thi Nhung, Mr. Nen's wife's sister, died on the night of February 24, 2001, due to a serious illness. The court sentenced 5 defendants to between 2 and 10 years in prison for "murder", of which Huynh Van Nen was sentenced to 6 years in prison.

On June 14, 2001, the Court of Appeal, the Supreme People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City held the first appeal trial of the "Cashew Garden Case". Here, Mr. Nen changed his testimony, saying that the defendant's confessions and statements about the crimes of others were due to being beaten and forced to confess, and that in fact the defendant knew absolutely nothing about the murder of Mrs. My. The first appeal trial had to be adjourned after 1 working day. On April 5, 2002, the second appeal trial of the cashew garden case was opened, the Court of Appeal of the Supreme People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City announced the cancellation of the first instance judgment for reinvestigation. In prison, Mr. Nen again confessed his guilt in the cashew garden case. During the last 7 days of July and early August 2002, the People's Court of Binh Thuan province held the first instance trial (second time) of the cashew garden case, concluding that the defendants had committed the crime of murdering Ms. Duong Thi My, and reduced Mr. Nen's sentence from 6 years to 5 years in prison in this case.

From March 9, 2005 to March 11, 2005, the Court of Appeal, Supreme People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City heard the appeal (3rd time) of the "Cashew Garden Case". Here, Mr. Nen again stated that he knew nothing about the murder of Mrs. My, and he also stated that he was wronged in the case of Mrs. Bong. The Court annulled the entire first instance judgment (2nd time), handed over the entire case file to the first instance court to reinvestigate from the beginning, and recommended that the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Agency handle the investigation.

On December 26, 2005, the Investigation Police Agency, Ministry of Public Security issued decisions to suspend the investigation of the defendants in the “cashew garden case” due to insufficient evidence to prove their criminal acts. After that, the defendants in this case had their investigation suspended, were released, publicly apologized by law enforcement agencies and were compensated for wrongful convictions according to Resolution No. 388/2003/NQ-UBTVQH11 of the National Assembly Standing Committee. Mr. Nen alone was not compensated for wrongful convictions in the “cashew garden case” and continued to serve a life sentence in the case of Ms. Bong.

Realizing that there were many shortcomings and serious violations in all stages of the investigation and trial of Huynh Van Nen's case, on November 12, 2014, the Supreme People's Court issued a final decision to annul the charge and sentence against Mr. Huynh Van Nen in the first instance criminal judgment dated August 31, 2000 of the People's Court of Binh Thuan province, and returned the case file to the first instance court for reinvestigation.

On January 6, 2015, the Investigation Police Agency, Binh Thuan Province Police received the case file for re-investigation and issued a 4-month detention order for the defendant Huynh Van Nen. After that, the Binh Thuan Province People's Procuracy extended Mr. Nen's detention twice, until January 8, 2016./.

According to Tien Phong