HCM City Police Detain 310 Protestors: Leaked Information

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Peaceful demonstration in HCM City on June 10 (Source: Citizen journalist)

 

Defend the Defenders, June 14, 2018

 

Security forces in Ho Chi Minh City have detained 310 protestors in large-scale demonstrations from June 10 against the two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cyber Security, according to a leaked information from the city’s Department of Public Security (police).

According to a leaked document on form of a word file , the city’s police have imposed administrative fines for 175 protestors and deported 38 protestors from other provinces and cities to their families after forcing them to make commitments not to cause public disorders in future.

Police have sent one protestor to a mental treatment clinic, and plan to prosecute seven demonstrators with various charges from violating national security to causing public disorders.

It is unclear the fates of the remaining 89 protestors.

Citizens journalists reported that Will Nguyen, an American Vietnamese is among detainees on June 10 as he joined others on street rally. His fate is still unknown.

Police have brutally beaten demonstrators upon detention and in custody, freed demonstrators said, adding they were interrogated for hours and their cell phones and belongings were confiscated.

Unlike in the central province of Binh Thuan where peaceful demonstrations turned into violent after the local police used tear gas and water cannongs to disperse the crowd, the protests in HCM City were non-violent. However, the local police deployed large number of police, militia and thugs to suppress demonstrations. While riot police blocked streets, under-covered police with masks detained protestors and took them into buses.

Meanwhile, state media reported that around 200 protestors in Binh Thuan were arrested after the government sent riot police units from Hanoi to take full control in Phan Thiet town and Phan Ri commune. On June 10, local protestors forced local riot police to surrender, and occupied some governmental buildings. Rioters burned some police cars, according to state media.

Citizen journalists reported that detained protestors in Binh Thuan were ill-treated by police who used batons to attack them on their faces and heads. Many detainees face serious criminal charges.

Police in Hanoi and Danang also violently dispersed peaceful protests and detained many demonstrators, however, all the detainees were freed after being held and interrogated in police stations. Hanoi-based pro-democracy campaigner Nguyen Thuy Hanh was brutally beaten by a police officer when she was arrested by Dong Da district police on June 10.