Vietnam Cop Sentenced to 102 Months in Jail for Beating School Boy to Death

Police officer defendant Le Minh Phat escorted to the court (Courtesy: Tan Loc)

by Vu Quoc Ngu, March 24, 2016

The People’s Court in Vietnam’s central province of Khanh Hoa on March 23 sentenced police officer Le Minh Phat to eight and half years in prison for illegal detention and beating to death a local school boy, state media has reported.

Phat, a policeman in Van Long commune, Van Ninh district, was requested to pay a compensation of VND105 million ($4,667) for the family of victim Tu Ngoc Thach.

His colleague Le Ngoc Tam, found guilty of illegal arrest of 14-year-old Thach, was given one year in probation while Le Tan Khoe, a son of a local policeman, was sentenced to three years in prison for beating the victim.

The incident happened on Dec 29, 2013 when Khoe and Thach had dispute. Police officers Phat and Tam, who were on holiday that day, illegally detained Thach to a local communal police station.

After handcuffing Thach on an agricultural field where the boy hide from chasing police, Phat severely beat Thach on his body. During interrogation in the police station, Phat, a boxer wining provincial prizes in 1988-1999, continued to attack the school boy.

The victim was torture in the police station over an hour before being released in evening. The boy died from severe injuries caused by police later.

Policemen Phat and Tam said Huynh Trung Thang, deputy head of the Van Phuc communal police, also beat Thach, however, Thang remained unprosecuted.

In June last year, the People’s Court in Van Ninh district sentenced two relatives of Thach to 15 months in jail each on charge of disturbing social order. According to the indictment, Mr. Mai Dinh Tam and Mr. Nguyen Van Ly were guilty of conducting public disorders after their nephew was beaten to death by local policemen.

The court said fishermen Tam and Ly triggered the demonstration of thousands of local residents in the National Road No. 1 to protest the brutal attack of local policemen which caused the death of Thach, a ninth-grade student in Van Tho commune in the morning of Dec 31, 2013.

Both Tam and Ly objected the sentences, saying they had not cause any trouble, just screaming when they learned that their nephew was beaten to death by police.

Mr. Ly, the younger brother of Thach’s mother, said that he was forced to make fabricated confession by investigating officers during interrogation. The unlettered fisherman said he was signed the confession under pressure of a police officer named Cong.

Police power abuse is rampant in Vietnam, especially in communal level where few police officers have been trained.

According to the report of the Ministry of Public Security, 226 Vietnamese died in police stations and detention facilities in the 2010-2014. Dozens of detainee were beaten to death or suffered serious injuries from police torture last year.

The number of victims of police torture has reached nearly ten since January this year, according to local human rights activists.