Anti-corruption Activist Faces Miscarriage after Being Beaten by Soc Son Police

Mrs. Dang Thi Hue caught by Soc Son district police on May 20 before being beaten

Defend the Defenders, May 25, 2019

Anti-corruption activist Dang Thi Hue (Facebooker Huệ Như) is under threat of suffering miscarriage five days after being beaten by policemen of Soc Son district, Hanoi, Defend the Defenders has learned.

Mrs. Hue was said to have great pain after being released in the evening of May 20 but the pain became tougher and she was admitted to the Thai Binh hospital in her home town on May 25 for an urgent emergency.

After the medical check-up, she was placed under special treatment and doctors said she may have to abort if the situation will not improve.

On May 20, Mrs. Hue, 38, and a number of social activists went to the Bac Thang Long-Noi Bai BOT (build-operating-transfer) toll booth to protest its illegal fee collection. She and five others were detained by police in Soc Son district and she was beaten by police officers while being kept in an office of the toll booth. She had warned that she is in the 5th week of pregnancy but the attackers ignored her warning and used their led to beat her in her stomach.

Hue is among dozens of activists speaking up against fee collecting of wrongly-placed BOT toll booths in many places in Vietnam, including the Bac Thang Long-Noi Bai BOT, which are backed by senior officials of the regime.

Many anti-BOT activists have been persecuted by plainclothes agents and thugs in recent months. Mr. Ha Van Nam, who is held in police custody for investigation of the allegation of “disturbing public orders,” was kidnapped and beaten in January.