Continuing the case of signs of journalist impersonation in Quy Chau: Problems from the forgotten file

The forgotten file

The group of 3 subjects with "signs"impersonating a journalist"Forgetting a file at a tea shop in front of Chau Binh commune headquarters was informed by the People's Committee of Quy Chau district in Document No. 605/BC-UBND. That is, during their time working in Chau Binh commune (late afternoon of September 23, 2020), 3 subjects with "signs of impersonating journalists" forgot a file at the tea shop of Ms. Ha Thi N., Luong Lanh village. At 7:30 a.m. on September 24, 2020, Ms. Ha Thi N. handed over the file to Chau Binh commune police...

Going back to Chau Binh to verify, we were informed by the leaders of this commune that on September 28, 2020, the commune returned the file to Ms. Nguyen Thi Van, the person named in the Letter of Introduction No. 226/GGT-DTTĐ (showing that she was a reporter for the Ethnic and Time Magazine, issued on February 15, 2020). But before returning it, the commune made copies and photos to keep a complete record; at the same time, it asked Ms. Nguyen Thi Van to make a declaration, then conduct an inspection and see if it was correct before inviting witnesses and making a record of the return. "As for Letter of Introduction No. 226/GGT-DTTĐ, because there was suspicion of wrongdoing, the commune kept it to submit to the authorities for inspection and clarification..." - Chau Binh Commune Party Secretary, Mr. Tran Viet Duc informed.

According to the minutes of handover and receipt of documents and objects made by the People's Committee of Chau Binh commune at 7:30 a.m. on September 24, 2020 at the house of Ms. Ha Thi N., in the files of the subjects there are the following papers and documents: Letter of introduction No. 226/GGT-DTTD of Ms. Nguyen Thi Van; a notebook; Socio-economic report for the first 6 months of 2020 and directions and tasks for the last 6 months of the year of two commune-level local authorities in Hung Nguyen and Nghia Dan districts; 4 copies of the Contract for introducing propaganda and advertising information and 4 copies of the Contract for distributing magazines of Green Knowledge Magazine; a 100,000 VND note; several envelopes of a number of organizations, agencies and units in Que Phong district.

As reported in previous articles, the content of the Letter of Introduction No. 226/GGT-DTTĐ of Ms. Nguyen Thi Van is the basis for the officials of Chau Binh commune and Quy Chau district to suspect that there is a fake journalist. For us, after accessing the papers and documents that Chau Binh commune People's Committee backed up, we found that it is necessary to pay attention and learn more about the "origin and source" of the Contracts for introducing propaganda and advertising information and the Contract for distributing magazines of Green Knowledge Magazine. Because these contracts have not been filled in with information but have been stamped with a red seal and signed by the General Secretary of Green Knowledge Magazine, showing signs that the group of subjects has a relationship with this magazine agency.

Revealing the nature

To partly answer the above concerns, we contacted a number of local authorities and agencies, units whose names appear on the papers and documents in the dossier, and asked them the following questions: Have you had contact with the group of subjects in the past? If so, what actions did you take when communicating with this group of people?

According to the Party Secretary of the local commune in Nghia Dan district, recently a group of people similar to those in Chau Binh commune came to contact the press for press work. During the communication process, they raised the issue of writing propaganda articles and requested to provide socio-economic reports of the locality. The leaders of the commune People's Committee provided documents to this group of people, but refused to write propaganda articles because there was no need. The Party Secretary of the commune said: "I checked and the commune People's Committee reported that they raised the issue of propaganda but the commune refused...".

As for the leader of a unit in Que Phong district, when asked, he said: “It is true that this group of people came to our agency. When they arrived, I saw the letter of introduction. It did not specifically state the name of the contact unit; the letter of introduction was issued on February 15, 2020, but was valid until December 30, 2020. I know that this letter of introduction is not in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Information and Communications. However, I did not think that they were impersonating people from the press agency, and because they had not shown any bad behavior, I did not question them. When they asked to write a propaganda article, we refused because the industry's regulations did not allow it and there was no need. When they left, the agency "had some gasoline and vehicles" as a courtesy. Now, looking at the information in the newspaper, I see that this is something that needs to be learned from...”.

In the article "Clarifying signs of impersonating journalists to harass in Quy Chau" (published by Nghe An Newspaper on October 15, 2020), it was reported that when he saw an envelope from Hanh Dich commune (Que Phong district) in the file of the subjects who had forgotten it, the Chief of Chau Binh commune Police, Senior Lieutenant Ho Trong Dat contacted the officials of Hanh Dich commune to verify. Thereby, Senior Lieutenant Ho Trong Dat learned that this group of people had come to Hanh Dich commune to perform similar acts as in Chau Binh commune. That is, they also filmed and took photos of the headquarters and offices, then questioned why the Secretary and Chairman of the commune were not present at the office? Then they threatened to "work with the District People's Committee".

From the information of Chau Binh commune, combined with the information of Senior Lieutenant Ho Trong Dat, along with the information of the Party Secretary of the local commune level in Nghia Dan district, the leaders of units in Que Phong district..., it is confirmed that this group of subjects has visited many agencies, units, and local authorities in the province. During those times, they had activities that were against regulations, completely lacking the style of a journalist; even showing harassment as in Chau Binh commune (Quy Chau), Hanh Dich (Que Phong)...

Need to get to the root of the problem!

To learn, the Ethnic and Time Magazine belongs to the Vietnam Association of Ethnology and Anthropology; and the Green Knowledge Magazine is the theoretical organ of the Institute of Environmental and Social Sciences. According to information on the electronic information portal of the Ministry of Information and Communications, the principles and purposes of the Ethnic and Time Magazine are: Propagating the Party's guidelines and policies; the State's policies and laws on ethnic groups; Disseminating knowledge about anthropology - ethnology... The Institute of Environmental and Social Sciences is an organization that aims to research, implement and develop programs, topics and projects in the fields of environmental science, biotechnology, economics, society, culture and management science...; Providing scientific services: Consulting, reviewing, appraising programs, topics, projects, transferring new technologies related to environmental activities, biotechnology, climate change... With such principles and purposes, the staff and reporters of these two magazines will never have suspicious behaviors during their work such as: not presenting relevant documents when coming to agencies, units, local authorities; not arbitrarily filming, taking photos to find fault, threatening...

On September 25, 2020, when asked about the Letter of Introduction No. 226/GGT-DTTĐ of Ms. Nguyen Thi Van, the Ethnic and Time Magazine issued Official Dispatch No. 31/BC-DTTĐ in response to the Department of Information and Communications that Ms. Nguyen Thi Van was not a reporter of this Magazine. So how will Green Knowledge Magazine respond when the group of subjects has copies of Advertising - Propaganda Introduction Contracts, Distribution Contracts with red stamps and signatures of their unit leaders?

Through an officer ofDepartment of Information and Communications, it is known that Green Knowledge Magazine does not register a representative office, or have a permanent reporter in the province. Therefore, it is necessary to verify whether there are any people from Green Knowledge Magazine in the group of subjects or not? If Green Knowledge Magazine, when asked, also has the same answer as Ethnic and Time Magazine, then it is necessary to conduct an appraisal of whether the seals on the introduction letters and contracts are fake or real?

In case the seals on the introduction letter and contracts are fake, clarify the behavior of using fake seals and documents of the agency or organization. If the seals on the introduction letter and contracts are real, it is necessary to clarify the related responsibilities of these two agencies and magazines!

PVDT Group