Hundreds of Vietnamese Lawyers Plan Street Demonstration to Seek Justice for Two Colleagues

Lawyer Luan (left) and lawyer Nam (right) after being attacked by Chuong My district thugs

Lawyer Luan (left) and lawyer Nam (right) after being attacked by Chuong My district thugs

Around 200 lawyers planned to go to the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the Hanoi Police Department’s headquarters to demand for launching deep investigation on the attack against human rights lawyers Tran Thu Nam and Le Van Luan on Tuesday [November 3] committed by masked thugs in Chuong My district, Hanoi.

By Vu Quoc Ngu, November 11, 2015

A group of around 200 Vietnamese lawyers have planned to hold street demonstrations to demand for justice for their two colleagues who were brutally assaulted by thugs last week.

They planned to go to the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the Hanoi Police Department’s headquarters to demand for a thorough investigation into the attack against human rights lawyers Tran Thu Nam and Le Van Luan on Tuesday [November 3] committed by masked thugs in Chuong My district, Hanoi.

They will also ask the country’s parliament to remove the regulation which requires lawyers to obtain approval before providing legal consultation to their clients.

The timetable for the protest will be publicized later, the lawyers said. They call on other colleagues and the Vietnamese public to support them in seeking justice for the two attacked human rights lawyers.

The move was planned after the Hanoi police released the results of an investigation into the assault against Mr. Nam and Mr. Luan after the duo visited the family of Do Dang Du, the 17-year-old boy who died on October 10 due to severe injuries he suffered during detention in the Hanoi-based Detention Facility No. 3.

At a press conference in Hanoi on November 10, representatives of the city’s Police Department said the assault, committed by eight individuals in Chuong My district, was triggered by a traffic dispute as the attackers got angry from gas emission and dust caused by the car of the two lawyers.

The police also rejected the victims’ accusation that one of the attackers is a local policeman named Cuu. According to the police, the attackers are Dong Phuong Yen commune-based farmers Dang Quang Huy, Nguyen Duy Ninh, Luu Cong Thang, Do Xuan Nguyen, Cao Van Huan, Nguyen Duy Manh, and Hoang Dinh Dan and communal accountant Nguyen Gia Tu.

The police released the result of the investigation on the case based on the confessions of the attackers.

Danang City-based Legislator Truong Trong Nghia said if the police’s investigation results were true, the country’s orders must be at warning level.

The lawmaker, who supports legal reforms to enhance human rights protection in the communist nation, urged Hanoi’s authorities to carefully investigate the case and bring the attackers to the court. He noted that the investigation has slowly progressed in many cases in which lawyers are victims.

Lawyers Nam and Luan are still under medical treatment. The preliminary medical checking showed that Nam’s nose was broken and his eyes were also injured. He will go further medical test to check whether his brain was affected by the attacks. Lawyer Luan had also a number of injuries in his face and body.

When informed about the attack, Mr. Phan Trung Hoai, vice president of the Vietnam Bar Federation said he contacted a senior official of the Ministry of Public Security and a deputy chief of the Hanoi Police Department to discuss the attack and the two pledged to launch an investigation on the case. Mr. Hoai also said the federation will also send its letter to relevant agencies to report the case and demand them to take proper measures to protect lawyers.

The attack occured one day after Major General Nguyen Duc Chung, head of the city’s Police Department, was elected to become one of four deputy secretaries of the Hanoi communist party’s People’s Committee for the 2015-2020 period. Chung is set to be appointed as the chairman of the city’s People’s Committee in mid-2016.

The assault against Nam and Luan, who try to help the family of Du to seek justice for his death, is among a series of recent attacks against local government critics and human rights activists, observers said.

Deploying plainclothes agents or using thugs to attack political dissidents and human rights activist is the new tactics of the Vietnamese communist government which strives to prevent the formation of any opposition movement.