Reporter attacked by police was praised by Deputy Prime Minister

Working in Dak Lak, reporter Do Thanh Hai (VTC News) was once encouraged and praised by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam as a good journalist. However, yesterday morning in this province, he was brutally attacked by a group of police officers to the point of being hospitalized...

As Dan Viet reported, on the morning of September 21, Mr. Do Van Xuyen - Chief of Police of Krong Puk district (Dak Lak) confirmed that some police officers of Cu Po commune (Krong Puk district) had behaved inappropriately when inviting Mr. Do Thanh Hai - VTC News reporter to leave the enforced area.

Mr. Hai on a working trip with Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam

Accordingly, the local government ordered a forced eviction to clear the site for the construction of a cultural house in Nam Tan village. Knowing about the incident, Mr. Hai and a number of other reporters went to the scene to monitor it. Mr. Hai went to meet Mr. Nguyen Viet Mui - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Cu Po commune, the person who presided over the forced eviction - to ask for permission to work.

However, when he had just arrived and had not yet presented his documents, Mr. Mui spoke loudly into his hand-held loudspeaker, calling Mr. Le Tuan Anh - the Commune Police Chief - to come check and confiscate Mr. Hai's camera. Immediately after, a commune police officer rushed in and pushed Mr. Hai out, while many police officers and commune militia rushed in to control and confiscate Mr. Hai's camera.

Mr. Hai at the hospital

According to a clip recorded at the scene, Mr. Hai was pushed very hard by about a dozen police and militiamen, had his camera snatched, was grabbed by the neck and pressed to the ground while the force participating in the enforcement screamed.

Reporter Thanh Hai (in black jacket) was restrained by police and militia and had his camera confiscated.

It is worth mentioning that Mr. Hai is very weak, 1.71m tall but weighs only 50kg so he could not withstand the rough pushing of the police and militia group. After the incident, his colleagues took him to Buon Ho General Hospital in a state of body aches, dizziness, and high blood pressure.

Previously, on August 7, when Mr. Hai followed Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam's working delegation in Dak Lak, seeing his dedication to work, the Deputy Prime Minister directly talked with him, encouraged him and praised him as a good journalist.

On the afternoon of September 21, the Department of Information and Communications of Dak Lak province said it would investigate the incident to determine how to handle it.

According to Danviet.vn