Supreme People's Procuracy hears report on case of 5 police officers using torture

On the morning of April 14, the working delegation of the Supreme People's Procuracy and the Supreme People's Court worked with relevant agencies of Phu Yen province on the case of 5 police officers torturing a suspect to death.

The working delegation of the Supreme People's Procuracy led by Mr. Nguyen Hai Phong, Deputy Chief Prosecutor, worked with the People's Procuracy of Phu Yen province to listen to a report on the process of handling the case of 5 police officers being tried for "using torture" in the case of beating suspect Ngo Thanh Kieu to death, which occurred at Tuy Hoa City Police Station (Phu Yen province).

At about 11:35, the meeting ended.

The defendants in court

Many reporters gathered in front of the People's Procuracy of Phu Yen province to register for interviews. However, a leader of the Supreme People's Procuracy said: "The case is still being resolved, so we have no comments yet. The working group will listen to many sides and then report to the President. When we have information, the working group will hold a press conference.

As planned, in the afternoon of the same day, the working delegation will work with the Phu Yen Provincial Party Committee on the case of '5 police officers using torture to cause death'.

According to the indictment, in early March 2012, Tuy Hoa City Police established Project 3121 to investigate a theft case in the area, headed by Mr. Le Duc Hoan, Deputy Chief of Tuy Hoa City Police.

In the early morning of May 12, 2012, Tran Minh Cuong drove car 78A-002.55 carrying Ngo Thanh Son and Ngo Thanh Kieu to Song Cau town to steal.

Here, Cuong entered Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuan's house and stole 14 million VND and 5 phones, then was discovered and chased by the police.

The three fled by car to Nguyen Huu Tho Street (Ward 9, Tuy Hoa City) where they abandoned the car and ran away. That same morning, Son was arrested and Cuong surrendered.

At the investigation agency, Cuong and Son confessed that they, together with Kieu, committed 7 thefts worth nearly 1.3 billion VND. Because this was a special case of Tuy Hoa City Police on the afternoon of May 12, 2012, Mr. Hoan directed his subordinate, Nguyen Tran Nguyen Phuc, to coordinate with Tay Hoa District Police to invite Ngo Thanh Kieu to Tuy Hoa City Police to work.

At 3:15 a.m. on May 13, 2012, a working group of 7 people from Tuy Hoa City Police, Tay Hoa District Police and Hoa Dong Commune Police came to Kieu's house, handcuffed her and took her to Tuy Hoa City Police.

Here, during the interrogation process, from 8:00 to 11:10 a.m. on the same day, Kieu refused to testify, so Pham Ngoc Man, Nguyen Minh Quyen, Nguyen Nhu Huy, and Nguyen Tan Quang took turns using rubber batons to hit Kieu's thighs and calves.

At noon, Nguyen Tran Nguyen Phuc assigned Nguyen Than Thao Thanh to guard Kieu while Man and Quyen went to eat. Thanh sat on the table, his feet on the chair Kieu was sitting on, and asked Kieu about the theft, but Kieu did not answer.

Thanh used a baton to hit Kieu on the head 2-3 times. At 2:00 p.m. the same day, Mr. Hoan directed his subordinates to take Kieu to the PC45 Department of Phu Yen Provincial Police for questioning.

The victim's family and a photo showing the injuries sustained from the beating.

At this time, Mr. Ho Tat Thang, Department PC45, Phu Yen Provincial Police, saw that Kieu was tired, so he directed to take her to the Provincial Police medical station for examination, then transfer her to Phu Yen Provincial General Hospital, but Kieu died on the way to the emergency room.

According to the forensic examination, the cause of Kieu's death was traumatic brain injury.

On May 22, 2013, Tuy Hoa City People's Procuracy concluded and prosecuted Nguyen Than Thao Thanh and 4 police officers for the crime of using torture. The indictment also determined that the actions of Mr. Le Duc Hoan, along with Nguyen Tran Nguyen Phuc, Nguyen Ho Chu Toan, Truong Quoc Dung, Vo Cong Phi, Nguyen Van Lai, Tran Phuong Nam, Vo Long Minh and Truong Trong Truong, who worked at Tuy Hoa City Police and Tay Hoa District Police, had signs of violating the law, but not to the extent of criminal prosecution, so disciplinary action was recommended.

According to vietnamnet