Woman convicted of human trafficking for more than 20 years appeals for justice
For over 20 years, Ms. Hang has been filing petitions everywhere because she believes she was wrongly imprisoned for not trafficking people as the verdict concluded.
Sitting and flipping through documents and petitions of injustice that have been crumpled over time, Ms. Do Thi Hang (65 years old, Bac Giang city) said "as long as I live, I will continue to appeal for justice."
21 years have passed but the day she was arrested for the crime of Trafficking in Women and Fraudulent Appropriation of Property is still vivid in her mind. After nearly 10 years as a high school teacher, she quit her job due to health reasons. After a long period of treatment in Hanoi, in 1992, she returned to Bac Giang to work as a porter for her neighbor Pham Van Ngo.
She said that after a few shipments, she was tricked by this man and sold to China to be the wife of a man on Hainan Island. During the Lunar New Year of 1993, she was rescued by the Chinese police and brought back to Vietnam.
On the day she returned, Ms. Hang went to Mr. Ngo's house to "demand justice, but his family asked her not to file charges and promised to compensate her." The former high school teacher was satisfied and returned to work as usual.
One day in mid-October 1997, Ms. Hang was arrested by Bac Giang Provincial Police on suspicion of being an accomplice with Mr. Ngo in tricking and selling Ms. Duong Thi Lieu to China.
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Ms. Hang continuously claimed her innocence for many years. Photo: Pham Du. |
The trial had no victims or witnesses.
On March 24, 1998, the People's Court of Bac Giang province opened the first instance trial of defendant Hang for the crimes of Buying and selling women and Fraudulently appropriating citizens' property.
The first instance verdict stated that in September 1994, when Ms. Lieu left home due to a conflict with her husband, Ms. Hang, Mr. Ngo and another person tricked and sold her to China for 1.2 million VND. The former teacher received 400,000 VND. When Mr. Ngo and his accomplices were brought to trial, Ms. Hang fled to China and was later arrested under a wanted notice.
Also according to the verdict, in 1994, Ms. Hang cheated Mr. Phan Van Phuong (neighbor) of 20 kg of rice and 400,000 VND; borrowed 300,000 VND from Ms. Khong Thi My but did not pay.
At the first instance trial, the victim and witnesses were absent. The defendant denied the charges and said that she was not allowed to read the statement when she signed the confirmation. The court rejected this statement and sentenced Ms. Hang to 5 years and 6 months in prison for the two charges.
The victim wrote a petition to clear the perpetrator's name.
Exactly 10 years after her release, Ms. Hang was informed by a fellow prisoner that Ms. Lieu had returned from China. When they went to her house, the two were bewildered because they had not known each other before.Lieu affirmed that I was not the culprit who tricked and sold her to China,” Ms. Hang recalled, adding that the victim had written a petition for her that same day. The petition was witnessed by neighbors and authenticated by local authorities.
On August 19, 2014, the Supreme People's Court issued a decision to annul the 1998 first instance judgment of the Bac Giang Provincial People's Court for reinvestigation. Two years later, on February 24, 2016, the Investigation Police Agency of the Bac Giang Provincial Police temporarily suspended the investigation of the criminal case.
Responding to reporters, Ms. Lieu said that before being tricked and sold to China, she had never met Ms. Hang. The person who took her to China was Mr. Ngo and another person.
“When I went to your country, I also met a woman named Hang, but she was younger and prettier,” she said, adding that she had repeatedly told investigators that Ms. Hang was not the one who sold herself to China as the court had convicted.
Hope to be vindicated
Mrs. Hang said that if she had not gone to jail, her children would not have fallen into the same trap as they are now. Her husband also would not have committed suicide on the day she was brought to trial.“The couple did not have time to say their last words to each other, but I know it would be difficult for him to accept a wife with a human trafficking conviction,” Ms. Hang said in a low voice.
Since their father died and their mother was arrested, all five of her children dropped out of school. The third daughter wandered around, became a drug addict, and contracted HIV. "The two sons were constantly in and out of jail because they would slash at anyone who made fun of their parents," she confided.
With a sad voice, she said, “I can suffer for the rest of my life,” but she cannot die in injustice and let her children and grandchildren be ashamed of her for the rest of their lives. This April, the Ministry of Public Security sent her an invitation to work on the case, so she hopes that everything will be clarified.
Lawyer Quach Thanh Luc, who provided legal assistance to Ms. Hang, said: The decision to temporarily suspend the investigation of the criminal case by the Bac Giang Provincial Police is illegal. "There is no regulation to temporarily suspend the case for the reason of "waiting for the results of the request for judicial assistance from China.The victim in the case is Ms. Lieu who returned and confirmed that Ms. Hang was not the culprit. This is the most important evidence in the case that needs to be clarified," the lawyer stated.
