After a long investigation, the Supreme People’s Procuracy has indicted six police officers in the northern province of Phu Yen for beating a local man, causing his death more than two years ago.

>> UN convention against torture submitted to NA for ratification Pham Ngoc Man, 34, former senior lieutenant; Nguyen Than Thao Thanh, 30, former junior lieutenant; Do Nhu Huy, 29, former lieutenant; and Nguyen Tan Quang, 39, former major, have been charged with “applying corporal punishment” pursuant to Article 298 of the Penal Code, the supreme prosecutor’s office said. All four former officers worked at the province’s Tuy Hoa City Police Department.   Nguyen Minh Quyen, 42, former major and deputy head of the reconnaissance team of the provincial police department, was also charged with the same offense. Meanwhile, Le Duc Hoan, 51, former senior lieutenant colonel, deputy chief of the Tuy Hoa City Police Department, was indicted for “negligence of responsibility, causing serious consequences,” pursuant to Article 285 of the Code. Hoan was nominally in charge of investigation of a theft suspect, Ngo Thanh Kieu, 32, in May 2012. According to the investigation conclusion, these former police officers used rubber batons to violently beat Kieu during an interrogation, leading to his death on May 13, 2012. These officers had handcuffed Kieu at his home and took him to a police station without a warrant, according to the indictment. After being beaten by the interrogating officers, Kieu died of cerebral hemorrhaging and other injuries. The victim was survived by two small children. In early April 2014, a court convicted the officers, giving some of them suspended sentences and sentencing others up to five years in prison for using corporal punishment. Hoan was not investigated at that time.

After the hearing, the media reported widespread public discontent with the verdict, saying the punishments were too lenient. The family of the victim appealed the court’s judgment, asking for heavier penalties for the defendants. The outcry eventually reached President Truong Tan Sang, who, after considering the case, directed concerned agencies to punish the officers more strictly. The Phu Yen Province People’s Court opened an appeal hearing on July 9, and Hoan appeared in court as a witness. Hoan told the jury that  he did not know about his subordinates’ actions in the interrogation. After the two-day trial, the court decided to cancel the first verdict and demanded a fresh probe into the case. Now, after months of further investigation, the Supreme People’s Procuracy decided to indict the six ex-officers as mentioned above.Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!