Director accuses police of illegally detaining people and 6 cars

Two days ago, Quang Tri police received a complaint from Mr. Hoang Duc Y (36 years old, director of a transportation company in Dong Ha city, Quang Tri) about a group of people taking him to work, and illegally holding six cars and three phones.

According to the report, on the morning of April 9, Mr. Y was invited by six people to the Quang Tri police headquarters to work until 11 p.m. After that, he was taken to the Quang Tri police motel under the supervision of two strangers. During the work, he was not allowed to call his relatives, and was even asked to write a letter voluntarily staying to help with the investigation. After more than a day and night, this director was released.

Also on April 9 and 10, Mr. Y was asked to voluntarily hand over his assets, which were six Volkswagen Polo cars with Ho Chi Minh City license plates. These six cars are being rented by many people, including one in Hue and one in Cua Viet town (Gio Linh district, Quang Tri).

Mr. Y said that during the 25 hours at the police station, he was threatened, depressed, and had his privacy violated when his messages and photos on his phone were checked. On the first day, his relatives had no information and were worried, thinking he had been kidnapped.

On the morning of April 12, Mr. Y suddenly discovered his car running on the road, about 3 km away from the location where he was detained. The driver was a Ha Tinh police officer.

A Quang Tri police leader confirmed that a working group of Ha Tinh police borrowed the Quang Tri police headquarters to investigate a case.

Director of Ha Tinh Police Vo Trong Hai said that the unit is setting up a project to investigate a car smuggling ring from abroad to Vietnam. Mr. Hai admitted that his subordinates "invited Mr. Y to work, not arrest him".

"Of the 6 cars, 5 had legal documents so they were returned to the business on the evening of April 13. The remaining car was still suspicious so it had to be brought to Ha Tinh for investigation," said Mr. Hai.

On April 14, Mr. Hoang Duc Y said he had received back 5 out of 6 cars confiscated by Ha Tinh police.

According to lawyer Tran Duc Anh (Tran and Associates Law Firm, representing Mr. Y), the detention of a person for investigation purposes must be notified to the family and approved by the same-level prosecutor. "It is impossible to ask the person to voluntarily stay and then detain the person at the request of the person," said lawyer Anh.

Similarly, the seizure of property must have a record of the violation of the property; the law does not stipulate that people voluntarily surrender their property. "Mr. Y was illegally detained, leading to fear and confusion, so he wrote the above voluntary papers," said lawyer Anh, adding that the two records of voluntarily staying and voluntarily surrendering the car were both illegal. The use of the seized property "is also completely illegal, and there must be a decision to request it, because it involves property rights."