Mr. Huynh Van Nen refused to attend the trial of the man who wrongfully imprisoned him.

After 17 years in hiding, Tho was brought to court in a fairly stable state of mind, looking around for his relatives.

On the morning of August 26, the People's Court of Binh Thuan province brought Nguyen Tho (40 years old) to trial for murder and robbery. Tho was accused of killing Ms. Le Thi Bong in the same village to steal her gold ring, causing Mr. Huynh Van Nen to be unjustly imprisoned for nearly 17 years.

Tho sits waiting for the opening of the trial. Photo: Phuoc Tuan

At 7:45 a.m., defendant Tho was escorted to court in a relatively stable state of mind, talking comfortably with his assigned defense attorney. When he looked out the side door of the court and saw his brother, Tho asked where his relatives were. The victim's family also arrived at the court quite early.

Five minutes later, Mr. Nen came to the courtroom door, looked up at Quoc Huy, and then quietly left. "I don't want to go inside again," Mr. Nen confided.

Mr. Nguyen Than (former chairman of Tan Minh Commune People's Committee when the case occurred 17 years ago) said that he was not invited but was still interested in the trial because this was a case he had pursued for decades to clear Mr. Nen's name.

Due to the absence of two important witnesses, the People's Court of Binh Thuan sent a car with police protection to Tan Minh town, Ham Tan district to transport Nguyen Phuc Thanh (who accused Nguyen Tho of killing Ms. Bong) and Tran Van Sang (former Deputy Police Chief of Tan Minh commune) to court. The trial is expected to start late.

After looking up at the national emblem, Mr. Nen left because he did not want to attend the trial. Photo: Phuoc Tuan

According to the indictment, 17 years ago, defendant Tho and Ho Thanh Viet were walking on the inter-village road when they had the idea of ​​snatching the necklace of Mrs. Bong's daughter who was returning home late from selling goods. However, due to fear of being discovered, the two young men gave up their plan and instead stole a video player from Mrs. Bong's house.

When Tho just entered the house, Mrs. Bong discovered him. Afraid that the homeowner would scream, both rushed to restrain and strangle Mrs. Bong to death. Before leaving the scene, Viet took the gold ring from the victim's hand and went to a coffee shop to sleep. The next morning, Tho went to sell the stolen gold ring, took a bus to the South to escape.

After many years of changing his name and living a vagrant life in Cambodia and many southern provinces, on October 10, 2015, while driving, Tho was stopped by the Hong Ngu District Traffic Police (Dong Thap) for inspection. Because he did not have any vehicle registration or identification papers, Tho was taken to the headquarters. There, Tho suddenly confessed his real name and age and the act of killing Mrs. Bong 17 years ago. Viet also went into hiding for a while and then died of illness.

Twelve days after Tho surrendered, Huynh Van Nen, who had been wrongly sentenced to life in prison for allegedly murdering Ms. Bong, was released on bail after serving 17 years. Two months later, Nen was officially cleared of all charges and cleared of wrongdoing.

Victim's family attends court hearing. Photo: Phuoc Tuan

Mr. Nén is the only person in Vietnam who has been wrongly convicted twice in two murder cases. In addition to the wrongful conviction in the case of Mrs. Bong, he was also found to be involved in the murder of Mrs. Duong Thi My 5 years earlier (in 1993). After 12 years without finding the culprit, the prosecution agency was forced to declare the 9 defendants in this "cashew garden case" (all of whom are Nén's wife's family members) innocent and had to pay more than one billion VND in compensation for the wrongful conviction. Mr. Nén was considered the culprit in the murder of Mrs. Bong and has not yet received any compensation.

According to VNE