Reporter attacked while working at Xuan Phuong Urban Area

On December 22, Chief of Xuan Phuong Ward Police (Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi), Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Duong Tien, said that the agency is consolidating the case file to handle the case of a reporter being assaulted while working in the area.

Specifically, at noon on December 21, while working on Highway 70 (Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi), Mr. Le Thanh Hieu - reporter for the online newspaper Tri Thuc (Zing.vn) was attacked by subjects believed to be security guards in the Xuan Phuong villa area (Xuan Phuong Ward, Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi).

According to Mr. Hieu, at that time, he and his colleagues went to the villa area located in Xuan Phuong urban area to request permission to work. Although they presented their press cards, the security guards of the area said they were not allowed to film or take photos, so the group of reporters had to go back to the gate (located on Highway 70) to take photos of the urban area gate.

Security guard attacks reporter Le Thanh Hieu at the investigation agency. (Photo: Vo Phuong/Vietnam+)

Mr. Hieu said: "Observing very carefully, we saw that there was no sign prohibiting filming or photography in the area above, and we were standing on the road so we felt secure taking out our cameras to take pictures."

“Suddenly, a man wearing a security guard uniform rode out on a motorbike and attacked me. He quickly used his elbow to hit me in the back of my neck and face,” Mr. Hieu recounted in confusion.

According to the victim, immediately after that, two more men from the urban area rushed in and dragged him inside to continue "dealing with" him, despite the efforts of a fellow reporter to stop him. With many working tools, Hieu was unable to react. After 5 minutes, a passerby (a student at the Police University) passed by to stop the subjects from attacking the reporter. This group of people continued to curse and threaten to force Hieu and his colleagues inside to deal with the situation.

The incident only ended when the Xuan Phuong Ward police and the Nam Tu Liem District Criminal Investigation Team appeared. The people involved were summoned to the ward police headquarters to resolve the matter (one person in the group that attacked the reporter had left the scene before).

At the police station, the person who beat Mr. Le Thanh Hieu was identified as Tran Van Dong - a security guard of Thinh An Security Services Joint Stock Company. Dong admitted to being the one who directly beat Mr. Hieu, the rest were in charge of pulling people and vehicles into the urban area (creating a fake scene, taking pictures inside the urban area).

After the incident, VietnamPlus reporters contacted Mr. Nguyen Manh Thang - General Director of Song Da 7 Joint Stock Company (Investor of Xuan Phuong Urban Area project). Mr. Thang confirmed the incident and said: "The above responsibility belongs to the security guard's management unit, Thinh An Company."

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Bui Quoc Dat - General Director of Thinh An Security Services Joint Stock Company admitted the above incident and said that there would be strong educational and disciplinary measures against Dong's staff. Mr. Bui Quoc Dat also added that he would directly apologize to reporter Thanh Hieu for the above incident.

The case is being further processed by the authorities./.

According to Vietnamplus