Lam Dong Province-based Activist Assaulted after Participating in Peaceful Protest

Mr. Tran Van Chuc

Mr. Tran Van Chuc with injuries after being attacked by plainclothes agents on July 6, 2018

Defend the Defenders, June 12, 2018

 

Mr. Tran Van Chuc from the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has been attacked and persecuted by plainclothes agents after he joined peaceful demonstrations against the bill on Special Economic Zones and the law on Cyber Security, according to an article posted on the website of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN).

Accordingly, in the evening of July 6, three plainclothes agents stormed in his house in Ward 6, Bao Lam district and attacked him.

Theunder-covered police were said to have used wooden bars with steel nails to hit hishandsand legs, causing bruises all over his body. Whenheused his handstocover his head, they broke hisright hand. After assaulting him, they lefthis house.

Due to the assault, his righthand was broken. He also suffered multiple injuries on his body.

The attacks came after he joined a peaceful demonstration on June 10, in which tens of thousands of Vietnamese in many localities rallied on streets to protest the Vietnamese government’s plan to give 99-year land lease to foreign investors.

Chuc said in recent weeks, after the protest, under-cover police had terrorized his private residence, throwing stones, rotten eggs, foul liquid at his house, intimidating him in all sorts of way. They allegedly poisoned his dog anddropped poisonous substances into hishouse’s water containers causing the water to change colour.

The assailants also stole his cellphone.

On June 10, when Chuc joined others in the protest, the local police detained him for hours. Five days later, they detained him again, holding him in custody until the late afternoon of June 17.

Mr. Chuc, 33, is one of many activists in Lam Dong to facepersecution in recent weeks due to their civil engagement. Cao Dai religious leader Mr. Hua Phi, labor activistMs. Do Thi Minh Hanh and disabled social activist Mr. Dinh Van Hai have recently been similarly attacked.