Thanh Hoa Police arrested and detained a person arbitrarily

Mr. Hoang Van Giang

Mr. Hoang Van Giang

After 9 days at Thanh Hoa City Police Detention, Mr Hoang was moved to Thanh Hoa Provincial Police Detention. During all the period of time Mr Hoang was detained his family did not receive any announcement from the authority about his arrest, also what charge they put on him.

DTD | Jun 07, 2016

Thanh Hoa June 6th, 2016

To: – The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of United Nations

–        All human right agencies, the international community, and media agencies.

Dear Mr and Misses,

My name is TON TRUNG NGUYEN, a citizen of Vietnam residing in Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam.

I am writing this letter to you an important information about an incident that the police in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam arrested and detained arbitrarily a dentist in Thanh Hoa.

Information of the of the victim:

Name: GIANG VAN HOANG

Birthday: February 23rd, 1984

Birth place: Quang Hung Ward, Thanh Hoa City, Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam

Nghê Nghiệp: Bác sỹ nha khoa.

Profession: Dentist

Authority responsible for the Arbitrary Detention:

Thanh Hoa Police

This is how it happens:

Dr. GIANG VAN HOANG is a member of Brotherhood for Democracy, an independent organization in Vietnam founded on April 24th, 2013 through Facebook. He has only been a normal member of this organization since May 2013.

In the afternoon in October 2015, Dr GIANG VAN HOANG was asked by a regular patient to take him to a coffee shop after the treatment to meet the customer’s friend. When Dr Hoang just joined in the group sitting in the coffee shop, immediately a police unit of Thanh Hoa city rushed in, arrested the whole group and started physical search.

The police found out that the people sitting on the same table with him were possessing heroin. The whole group was arrested including Dr Hoang even he does not have any heroin with him.

At 4 p.m the same day, the police came to his clinic on Nguyen Trai street to search his house without showing any warrant to Dr Hoang’s family. The police search the room carefully his computer and his receipt bill boxes but they do not find any evidence of heroin.

After a few days, the whole group that was arrested with Dr Hoang was released, but Dr Hoang was still detained for further investigation. During his detention his wife was allowed to see him a few times to learn of what happened to him.

After 9 days at Thanh Hoa City Police Detention, Mr Hoang was moved to Thanh Hoa Provincial Police Detention. During all the period of time Mr Hoang was detained his family did not receive any announcement from the authority about his arrest, also what charge they put on him.

In February, 2016 Dr Hoang’s wife was suggested by Thanh Hoa Police to meet Dr Hoang to advise him to confess any crime so that they can end the investigation soon and take him to the court to release him.

Upon meeting Dr Hoang within 5 minutes, she could not help crying to hear him saying that he committed no crime; he does not know what charge they are putting on him. Dr Hoang complained that policemen kept on beating and treating him cruelly. The detention center authority put him into a private cell, sometimes his wife sent him basic goods but he was not allowed to receive. Mr Hoang and his wife only had a short period of time to talk further before the police took him away from his wife.

Recently, at the end of May, 2016, his wife visited again to send him basic good. The officers in the detention center told her that Dr Hoang was moved to another place and they would not receive any basic goods from her any more.

 

She tried to ask where he was sent to, however she received an answer saying that they are not responsible for that so they do not know. She request to talk to the detention center authority to ask, but she has not received any message yet. She went home draft a request the Thanh Hoa City Police to confirm that they arrested Dr Hoang but they did not do it. This morning June 6, 2016, his wife once again went to the detention center of Thanh Hoa Police to ask for her husband’s information.

Now, the family is extremely worrying that Dr Giang Van Hoang was terminated or tortured to death in the detention because he has not crime.

I urgently announce to you to please voice up on time to save an innocent citizen. At least, please ask the authority to provide information accurately where Dr Hoang is detained and what charge they are putting on him.

Thank you so much!

Sincerely,

Nguyen Trung Ton

Phone: 01628387716