Strange similarities between two shocking wrongful convictions in Bac Giang

In the two wrongful convictions, the prosecutor and the judge were the same person. In addition, there are many notable similarities between the two cases.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chan and Han Duc Long.

Both of them are from Bac Giang but from different districts. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chan (born in 1961) is from Viet Yen district and Mr. Han Duc Long (born in 1959) is from Tan Yen district. The two of them live about 20km from each other.

In both cases, neither of them were the initial suspects. Mr. Chan was arrested after 15 days and Mr. Long was arrested four months after being reported by someone with whom he had a conflict.

At the police station, both men wrote letters confessing their crimes. Both were allowed to write letters to their families and both admitted their crimes in the letters.

Notably, both cases had no witnesses or physical evidence. The main basis for conviction was based on the defendant's confession to the police. Both cases had their crime scene diagrams redrawn and re-enacted.

At the trials, both men claimed they were innocent and claimed they were tortured and forced to confess as the investigators demanded. However, the court rejected these claims.

In addition, both cases were investigated by the Department of Investigation Police on Social Order - Bac Giang Provincial Police. The prosecutor of Bac Giang People's Procuracy is Mr. Dang The Vinh, and both cases were tried by the judge of Bac Giang Provincial People's Court, Mr. Nguyen Minh Nang.

*The wrongful conviction of Nguyen Thanh Chan:In mid-August 2003, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoan was murdered at her home in Me village, Nghia Trung commune, Viet Yen district, Bac Giang. The police identified Mr. Chan (born in 1961, a neighbor of the victim) as the perpetrator.

Later, because his father was a martyr, Mr. Chan was sentenced to life in prison by the People's Court of Bac Giang province for "gangster" murder. Mr. Chan's appeal was not accepted by the Supreme People's Court in the appeal session opened in July 2004, chaired by Mr. Pham Tuan Chiem.

During his 10 years in prison, Mr. Chan continuously sent petitions to appeal his innocence. Outside, his wife also "knocked on the doors" of many government agencies and claimed that the real culprit of the case was a fellow villager named Ly Nguyen Chung. In July 2013, after reviewing her petition, the Supreme People's Procuracy's Investigation Department stepped in.

Two days after being released by the Supreme People's Procuracy after 10 years of arrest, on November 6, 2013, the Supreme People's Court in a retrial overturned two verdicts convicting Mr. Chan of murder with a life sentence. Afterwards, the perpetrator of the case, Ly Nguyen Chung, turned himself in, admitted to killing Ms. Hoan to steal 2 rings and 59,000 VND and then fled. Ly Nguyen Chung was sentenced by the People's Court of Bac Giang province to a total of 12 years in prison for murder and robbery.

*Han Duc Long's wrongful conviction(Born in 1959, residing in Phuc Son commune, Tan Yen, Bac Giang): Originated from the death of Nguyen Thi Y (born in 2000) in a ditch in Yen Ly village, Phuc Son commune on the evening of June 26, 2005. The investigation agency (IA) got involved and determined that the victim had been raped and died of drowning.

After nearly 4 months of investigation without results, Bac Giang police "mobilized the people to report crimes". In October 2005, a complaint appeared from Mrs. K and Ms. N (mother and daughter) about being raped by Long. Summoned by the police to work, Long admitted to raping Mrs. K and her daughter, so he was prosecuted and temporarily detained by Bac Giang provincial police for the crime of "Rape". During his detention, Mr. Long suddenly made a "confession" about raping and killing Y.

From 2007 to 2011, through 4 trials, Mr. Long was convicted of Rape, Child Rape and Murder by the People's Court of Bac Giang Province and the Supreme People's Court, with the combined sentence being death. During this time, Mr. Long continuously claimed his innocence, saying that he was forced to confess only when summoned.

In 2014, the Supreme People's Court's panel of judges held a second review trial, annulling the second first-instance and second-appeal criminal judgments against defendant Han Duc Long to request an investigation to clarify many conflicting issues of the case.

In mid-2016, the Investigation Police Agency of Bac Giang Province Police in its supplementary investigation conclusion continued to propose prosecuting Mr. Long because it believed there was sufficient basis for conviction./.

According to Tien Phong