Former traffic police officer appeals for innocence against accusation of 'asking juniors to beat up violators'

Pham Sy Hoai Nhu denied the accusation of ordering thugs to beat a violator to death, causing the court to annul the sentence and reinvestigate.

On September 29, the High People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City annulled the verdict and returned the case file to the first instance court to re-investigate and re-try Pham Sy Hoai Nhu (36 years old, former lieutenant of traffic police - Tan Binh District Police) and his accomplices for the crime of Intentional Infliction of Injury.

This decision was made because the panel of judges believed that the first instance court had violated the procedure, many issues had not been clarified, the defendants' statements were contradictory... and needed to be confronted to clarify the truth.

"The defendants were prosecuted and tried for the crime of Intentional Infliction of Injury, but the forensic conclusion did not clarify the direct cause of the victim's death," the panel of judges stated their opinion.

Nhu was granted bail from the first instance trial. Photo: Tan Chau

According to the first instance verdict, on the night of June 25, 2014, a traffic police patrol team of Tan Binh District Police, led by Senior Lieutenant Nhu, was stationed at the intersection of Truong Chinh and Tan Ky Tan Quy. Seeing Mr. Chin (47 years old) driving a motorbike with signs of being drunk, the traffic police signaled him to stop for inspection.

Having his vehicle impounded and his blood alcohol level exceeding the legal limit, Mr. Chin argued with the traffic police and then left. Lieutenant Nhu called Nguyen Minh Chung (25 years old) to beat him up and chased Mr. Chin away so the police could work.

Chung called three more young men to take Mr. Chin into the alley, taking turns beating him until the victim fell to the street. Chung told Nhu "it's done" and the group left.

At dawn the next morning, the working group saw Mr. Chin sitting on the roadside so they called a taxi to take him home. On the way, the victim complained of pain so they asked the taxi to take him to Thong Nhat Hospital. However, Mr. Chin died later. The cause was concluded to be "ruptured small intestine, choking on food into the lungs".

After many times of returning the investigation file and re-examining, the National Institute of Forensic Medicine - Branch in Ho Chi Minh City determined the cause and mechanism of Mr. Chin's death as "acute respiratory failure due to a foreign object blocking the patient's upper respiratory tract after surgery to suture a perforated small intestine", possibly due to postoperative complications of reflux of gastric juice and food into the respiratory tract.

In the first instance trial last September, Chung and his group of friends all confirmed that Nhu called them to "beat up Mr. Chin" because of an argument with the traffic police.

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Court sentenced Nhu and Chung to 12 years in prison for intentionally causing injury - leading to death. Three other defendants received 5-11 years for the same crime.

Chung (in the lead) and his accomplices. Photo: Hai Duyen

Released on bail, Nhu trudged to court this morning. Throughout the session, the former traffic police officer kept his head down and cowered before the panel of judges. Nhu maintained his appeal, claiming that he did not call his "juniors" to beat Mr. Chin but came to take him home because he was too drunk.

In the row of seats, the victim’s wife sat quietly, her eyes red. At the first trial, Mr. Chin’s parents were the representatives of the victim, but this time they authorized her. She asked the panel of judges to reconsider the criminal responsibility of the defendants.

Nguyen Minh Chung and his accomplices asked for a lighter sentence and changed their testimony compared to the first instance court. The defendants said that "Nhu called them to take Mr. Chin home". But when the court asked "so why did you beat someone to death", they all stammered and did not answer. The judge immediately reminded them that "honest testimony will be considered, if you beat around the bush it will be disadvantageous for you".

The representative of the People's Procuracy asked "were the defendants affected in any way to change their testimony today?" They also did not answer./.

According to VNE