'Madam' accuses investigation agency of forcing confession and torturing

Accused of prostitution brokerage, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhuan said she was forced to confess, tortured and counter-sued the investigation agency...

On November 22, the Hanoi People's Court opened an appeal hearing to consider the appeal of defendant Nguyen Thi Nhuan (born 1966, in Thai Binh).

According to the first instance verdict, at the end of 2012, Ms. Nhuan rented a level 4 house in Ha Dong, Hanoi to open a massage parlor. She recruited 3 employees aged between 36 and 45 to massage the backs of customers.

According to the agreement, for each back massage session, Ms. Nhuan charged the customer 80,000 VND. This amount was divided in half between Ms. Nhuan and the staff.

At Ms. Nhuan’s massage parlor, if a customer wants to buy sex, the female staff are ready to serve them for 400,000 VND/session (1 session), the “fun” location is chosen by the customer and the motel fee is paid. Ms. Nhuan collects money from the customer and keeps 1/4 of the money for sex.

On the afternoon of November 28, 2016, Ms. Nhuan collected 1.6 million VND from a customer for sex and then sent two prostitutes to a motel near her massage parlor to serve the customers in two consecutive shifts.

That day, the police discovered two of Ms. Nhuan’s employees selling sex to customers. From the statements of the two prostitutes and the customers, the police determined Nhuan’s role as a “madam.”

At the first instance trial, Ms. Nhuan did not admit to her prostitution brokerage as stated in the indictment. According to the defendant, her confession to the investigation agency was due to coercion.

Ms. Nhuan also accused the prosecution agency of making mistakes in searching her sauna and massage parlor and confiscating money and property without proper procedure.

In addition, some officers and investigators forced defendants' families to pay money to be released on bail, which was not in accordance with regulations.

Regarding the above statements of Ms. Nhuan, the first instance panel of judges held that the administrative inspection of the defendant's massage facility was within the functions and duties of the competent authority in the process of managing conditional business establishments, and was carried out under independent procedures.

The defendant's denunciation of the conduct of the prosecution agency and a number of officers and investigators is being handled by the competent authority in a different order, and does not affect the proof of whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty, as well as the determination of the penalty for the defendant in this case, therefore the first-instance panel does not consider it.

According to the first instance jury, although the defendant claimed innocence, based on the documents and evidence in the case, it can be determined that: Due to greed, Ms. Nhuan received money from customers and then sent prostitutes to "entertain" the customers.

Ms. Nhuan herself turned herself in and gave many statements admitting to her crimes consistent with the statements of the prostitutes about her being the one to make the transactions and receive money from customers to send girls to hotels to sell sex.

Therefore, there is sufficient basis to conclude that the defendant's actions constituted the crime of prostitution brokerage. The first instance court sentenced the defendant to 42 months in prison.

Considering the defendant's appeal, the appellate court decided to reduce Ms. Thuan's sentence from 42 months in prison to 36 months in prison.

According to Vietnamnet