A woman in Hanoi has apologized for impersonating a journalist and insulting local traffic police officers last week.
Police in Dong Da District have summoned Nguyen Thi Nguyet, 41, a resident of Ba Dinh District, to clarify her offense.
At the police station, she admitted her guilt and extended her apologies to the officers.
According to the case file, Nguyen Duc Thang, 37, was pulled over by a group of traffic police officers in Dong Da District at around 8:00 am on May 25 for riding his motorcycle, which also had no rear-view mirror or registration, on the sidewalk.
Thang refused to present his personal documents when requested by the officers, before Nguyet arrived to ‘assist.’
Nguyet claimed to be a correspondent from Elderly Magazine, displaying a seeming press card as proof and then asking the officers to talk to a retired police official on her phone, seemingly with the intention of helping Thang get away with his traffic offense.
When the traffic cops refused Nguyet’s request and continued to make a report of Thang’s violations, the so-called ‘reporter’ began insulting them.
“Why didn’t you answer the phone? If I tell you to answer it, you have to,” Nguyet said to an officer while pointing at his face.
“The way you do your job is nonsensical and impudent,” she reiterated.
“I have the number of your superior and told you to talk to him. Why didn’t you do so?” she continued.
The entire incident was filmed by one of the officers and later uploaded to the Internet, sparking fierce opposition amongst viewers.
Speaking to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Dang Tai Chinh, head of the office of the Vietnam Association of the Elderly, which manages the magazine, confirmed that Nguyet did not work for the publication.
“We will work with the authorities to find out how she got that card,” Chinh added.
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