Nearly 2 decades of searching for justice after a traffic accident

The fateful ride

Until now, every time the weather changes, Ms. Trinh Thi Hanh Loi (62 years old, communeTang Thanh, Yen Thanh district)again tormented by pain. Those were the injuries she suffered after a traffic accident 17 years ago. “My left eye alone is completely damaged, I can’t see anything,” said Mrs. Loi.

Recalling that fateful bus trip, Mrs. Loi said that in the early morning of December 30, 2003, she and her daughter Phan Lan Anh took a bus to her mother's hometown in Thanh Hoa on the 100th day of her grandfather's death. Lan Anh was 19 years old at that time, a first-year student at a university. The bus that Mrs. Loi and her daughter took was owned by Mr. Ngo Sy Hoan (residing in Dien Xuan commune, Dien Chau district).

Ms. Loi lost an eye after the accident. Photo: Tien Hung

At 5am, when the car reached Quang Binh commune (Quang Xuong district, Thanh Hoa), it caused an accident. "At that time, the mother and child were dozing off when suddenly there was a loud noise, and the person leaned forward. At that time, something in front of me hit my face, and after that, I don't remember anything," said Mrs. Loi. The accident killed 2 people and injured 8 others. Among them, Mrs. Loi was one of the most seriously injured victims. The mother and child were taken to Hanoi by their family for emergency care and treatment for many days.

According to the conclusion of the police agency, the cause of the accident was that the passenger car driver Le Trung Kien (residing in Hung Dong commune, Vinh city) was speeding, driving recklessly, not controlling the speed, not controlling the steering wheel, and swerved to the left side of the road and crashed into a car going in the opposite direction. According to this conclusion, driver Kien was one of the two people who died. Because the driver was dead, the investigation agency did not initiate a criminal case for violating regulations on driving road vehicles.

Mrs. Loi's husband, Mr. Phan Anh Cuong, said that about 20 days after the accident, a group of people came to his house, calling themselves "gangsters of Cau Bung" and asked by the car owner to negotiate a deal. "They gave me 5 million VND and a pre-written paper stating compensation for the accident and not to sue me anymore, but I did not accept the money and did not sign. At that time, my wife and children were seriously injured, and it was unknown whether they were alive or dead, so I did not receive the money. They then shouted loudly and threatened the whole family," Mr. Cuong said.

According to Mr. Cuong, that was also the only time the bus company came to meet with his family to negotiate compensation. Since then, 17 years have passed, his family and some passengers injured in that fateful trip have not received a single penny of compensation from the bus company. Meanwhile, the medical expenses for Mrs. Loi and her son cost more than 200 million VND.

Driver swapping trick

Several months after the accident, Mrs. Loi and her daughter gradually recovered. But after waiting for a long time without seeing the accident brought to trial so that victims like her could receive compensation, Mrs. Loi and her husband filed a complaint. However, it was not until 3 years later that the Thanh Hoa Police Investigation Agency announced its response to Mrs. Loi's complaint about resolving the accident. At this time, Mrs. Loi and her husband learned that the investigation agency did not initiate a case because the driver, Le Trung Kien, had died.

Realizing that the accident had many unusual signs, Mr. Cuong went to investigate and discovered a shocking incident: Driver Le Trung Kien, who was confirmed “dead” by Thanh Hoa Police, was still alive in Vinh City and the dead driver was Ngo Thanh Hong (son of the car owner Ngo Sy Hoan). Notably, Hong still did not have a driver’s license.

Mr. Cuong and his wife have been waiting for justice for the past 17 years. Photo: Tien Hung

To have evidence, Mr. Cuong had to go directly to the locality to get the certification that "Le Trung Kien is still alive". He then brought the certified document to report. Based on this information, in June 2007, the Thanh Hoa Police Investigation Agency prosecuted Mr. Ngo Sy Hoan for false reporting. The investigation conclusion confirmed that after the accident occurred, because Mr. Hong did not have a driver's license but still drove and died in the accident, Mr. Hoan called his family members who were in the car to request that they report to the police that the deceased driver was Le Trung Kien (Mr. Hoan's nephew, with a driver's license) so that the insurance agency could compensate for the damage.

However, this conclusion also stated that Mr. Ngo Thanh Hong drove to pick up the passenger without Mr. Hoan's knowledge, so the investigation agency did not prosecute Mr. Hoan for the act of entrusting an unqualified person to drive a road vehicle. On November 8, 2007, the People's Court of Thanh Hoa province tried and sentenced Mr. Hoan to 15 months in prison, suspended, for the crime of false testimony, but did not consider compensation for Mr. Cuong's wife and children, as Mr. Cuong requested.

17 years of complaining

After the court announced the verdict but still did not consider the responsibility to compensate for the damages to Mr. Cuong's wife and children, his family continued to file complaints. Mr. Cuong said that after the accident, Mrs. Loi had to go to Hanoi many times for treatment for nearly a year at Viet Duc Hospital and Eye Hospital. He had to borrow money from the bank and run around everywhere to get money to treat his wife and children. After the treatment, Mrs. Loi's one eye was completely damaged, the other eye was only 3/10, and she had a brain nerve disorder. Meanwhile, Lan Anh, who was in her first year of university, had a traffic accident and had to be treated for a long time, and her results were not retained.

Mr. Ky, another victim of the accident. Photo: Tien Hung

He submitted all of his medical records and hospital receipts when his wife and children were treated to the police, so even though he had purchased personal insurance, his wife and children were not compensated by the insurance. After many years of requesting a trial to compensate the victims of the accident and requiring the car owner to be responsible for compensating the family, in 2013, the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Procuracy instructed Mr. Cuong to file a lawsuit for compensation at the District Court.

After receiving instructions from the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Procuracy, he brought the case to the courts of the districts of Yen Thanh, Dien Chau (Nghe An) and Quang Xuong (Thanh Hoa), but they all replied that they did not have the accident case file and would not accept it. Mr. Cuong continued to file a petition to the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Procuracy and the petition was transferred to the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Court. After many years of waiting without results, he filed a petition for help to the Secretary of the Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee.

17 years after the accident, on August 14, the People's Court of Thanh Hoa province responded to Mr. Cuong and instructed him to file a civil lawsuit at a competent court. "We are the victims. Over the past 17 years, I have sent countless petitions and knocked on the doors of many agencies, but no one has considered our rights. We are so tired!", Mr. Cuong was indignant.

Similar to Mr. Cuong’s family, another victim of the accident, Mr. Phan Dang Ky (residing in Nhan Thanh commune, Yen Thanh), also said that he has not received any money from the owner of the car that caused the accident. Mr. Ky has signed Mr. Cuong’s petition to the authorities many times, requesting a trial to seek compensation, but so far there has been no result.