The Ho Duy Hai's Case: Call for support

Subject: URGENT – Matter of Life and Death of Innocent Vietnamese victim. EXECUTION DATE: 4 January 2015

25 December, 2014

Your Excellency:

On 13 January 2008, two female workers at the Post Office in Long An Province, Vietnam, were killed.  The murderer was unknown. However, Mr. Ho Duy Hai was arrested on 21 March 2008 and was sentenced to death by the Long An Court House. The execution was scheduled for 5 December 2014.

 
Since the prosecution process was not transparent, many voices were raised in opposition, including ours. We speak on behalf of Vietnamese people who love peace and justice and we greatly valued the timely interventions which have followed.

 
We totally support the decision on 4 December 2014 by the President of Vietnam, Mr. Trương Tấn Sang, who ordered that the death sentence for Hồ Duy Hải must be postponed and a report submitted to him before 4 January 2015.

 
This postponement came just one hour before Hồ Duy Hải was to receive a lethal injection at 11am on 4 December 2014.  However, the postponement is temporary. At the time of writing, Hồ Duy Hải is still scheduled to be executed on 4 January 2015. Hereinafter, Hồ Duy Hải, 29 years old, is referred to as “HDH.”

 
We totally support the message dated 5 December 2014 from Ambassador Franz Jessen, the Head of the European Union Delegation to Vietnam. In this message, Ambassador Franz Jessen welcomed the news of Mr. Hồ Duy Hải’s postponement of execution and also called for the suspension of his execution and the establishment of a moratorium on all executions in Vietnam.


Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 by the United Nations of which Vietnam is a member, states clearly that "Everyone should be considered innocent until proven guilty.” Speaking at the 25th Geneva Summit on 3 March 2014, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh also confirmed that “guaranteeing and promoting Human Rights is the consistent policy of the Vietnamese government. These actions come from historical and cultural tradition... from the heart-felt wishes of the Vietnamese people which are aligned with the common value of Human Rights."

However, during the last 7 years the prosecution of HDH's case by the Long An Court House has left much to be desired:

•  Vo Thanh Quyet, the first attorney hired by HDH's family to defend him, turned out to be a prosecutor who actually prosecuted HDH at the trial.

•  Nguyen Van Đat, the second attorney hired by HDH's family, noted 43 items that legally violated HDH's case. Then the attorney was not allowed to communicate with HDH at the hearings; he was not informed to appear at HDH’s trial; and the Long An Court did not reply to any motion or petition made by attorney Nguyen Van Đat.

Based on the articles by Vietnam media and on the blog of HDH's 3rd and current attorney, Tran Hong Phong of Ho Chi Minh City, who has spent 5 years on this case, we found that:

•    HDH had an alibi, but the Long An Court refused to accept it.

•    HDH was arrested on 21 March 2008, 10 weeks after the murder, because he was allegedly involved in sports gambling, which is totally different to murder.

•    A report dated 11 April 2008 showed that the fingerprints found at the murder scene were not those of HDH.

•    It also showed that the blood found at the murder scene was not HDH's blood.

•    No tools or weapons were found at the murder scene, but a knife and a cutting board purchased by the Long An provincial police from the local market 4 months after the murder were considered “involved weapons.” The Long An police report contained a record of the purchase.  However, the knife and cutting board were still accepted as “proof” by the Long An Court of HDH’s intent to kill.

•    The witness could not identify HDH as being at the scene of the crime.

•    HDH repeatedly professed that he was “NOT GUILTY,” both at the hearings and with his family.

On 17 December 2014, the Vietnamese version of Radio France Internationale (RFI), headquartered in Paris, France, broadcast a report on HDH's case. More than that, RFI also mentioned another case of an innocent man being accused of murder; a policeman was killed on 14 July 2007 in Hai Phong, northern Vietnam and then Nguyen Van Chuong was arrested and charged with the murder. He will be executed at the end of December 2014, even though his family has fought and asked for justice for 7 years.  RFI said that Chuong’s father had cut his finger and with his own blood written a letter to the “higher authority.” But no one answered his plea for his son’s life.
 

Based on the above hard facts and evidence, we respectfully request your assistance in reviewing HDH’s case.  His case must be re-opened for serious investigation. An appeal must be filed immediately. HDH must be allowed to have a fair trial by a higher authority. In addition, it is recommended that the presence of the media, an attorney and HDH's family be permitted. 

In waiting for 4 January 2015, we respectfully ask that:

•    HDH should be treated as an “innocent person.”

•    HDH should have the basic right to meet his family and his attorney, and treated with dignity.

•    HDH should NOT be threatened or tortured.

•    HDH’s current attorney should not be threatened.

Since Ho Duy Hai is not the only person being wrongly prosecuted in Vietnam, your kind consideration will save not only Ho Duy Hai’s life, but also other innocent Vietnamese who will be executed soon without having a chance to express themselves and prove their innocence. Your prompt attention carries considerable weight and we hope that it will be another important step in the process of securing justice and the protection of human dignity in Vietnam.

We remain,

Respecfully yours,

Tran Thi Vinh Tuong, California, USA

Nguyen Hoang Anh, Ha Noi, Vietnam

Tran Van Hung, Saigon, Vietnam

Vo Van Thuong, Long An, Vietnam

Nguyen Hoang Linh, Budapest, Hungary

Nguyen Thuong Viet, Germany

Đo Anh, Melbourne, Australia

Tran Bao Ngoc, New York, USA

Trinh Duong Lieu, Toronto, Canada

Ann Quynh, Fountain Valley, USA

Hoàng Tường, Houston, USA

Nguyen Cuong, Praha, Czech

Nghĩa Bùi, Texas, USA

Nguyen Minh Nam, Paris, France

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, Lyon, France

Lê Hải Vân, Hyogo, Japan

Mạc Việt Hồng, Warsaw, Poland

Lữ thị Tường Uyên, Assen, Netherlands

Bùi Việt Hoa, Helsinki, Finland

Hoàng Việt, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet nam

Tạ Kim Tuyến, Sydney, Australia

Nguyễn Sỹ Tuyên, Kiev, Ukraine

Lê Anh Tuấn, New York, USA

Nguyễn Đức Hiệp, New South Wales, Australia

Nguyen Ngoc, Hà Nội Việt Nam

Đỗ Đăng Giu, France.

Hà Dương Tuấn, Paris, France

Hà Dương Tường, Paris, France

Phạm Xuân Yêm, Paris, France

Nguyễn Thị Từ Huy, Paris, France

Chu Hảo, Hà Nội, Việt Nam

Tuệ Nguyễn, Saigon, Việt Nam

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Attachment:

a. Demand from President of Vietnam “to postpone Hồ Duy Hải execution”
http://www.tienphong.vn/Phap-Luat/chu-tich-nuoc-yeu-cau-bao-cao-vu-ho-duy-hai-truoc-ngay-412015-792755.tpo

b. English and Vietnamese version letters from the Head of Europe Union, Ambassador Franz Jessen, in Ha Noi, Vietnam.

http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/vietnam/documents/press_corner/2014/20141205_en.pdf

http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/vietnam/documents/press_corner/2014/20141205_vi.pdf

c. Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh confirmed Human Right will be guaranteed in VN,

http://www.ubvk.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/web/guest/chinh-tri?p_p_id=EXT_ARTICLEVIEW&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_col_id=center-left-1&p_p_col_count=2&_EXT_ARTICLEVIEW_groupId=10217&_EXT_ARTICLEVIEW_articleId=260996&_EXT_ARTICLEVIEW_version=1.0&_EXT_ARTICLEVIEW_redirect=%2Fweb%2Fguest%2Fhome

d. Three typical Vietnamese newspaper articles that published the story

http://dannews.info/2014/12/09/vu-an-ho-duy-hai-loat-cau-hoi-nghi-van-can-lam-ro/
http://www.doisongphapluat.com/phap-luat/ho-so-vu-an/luat-su-quyet-duoc-chi-dinh-bao-chua-cho-ho-duy-hai-nhu-the-nao-a73921.html
http://www.doisongphapluat.com/phap-luat/ho-so-vu-an/luat-su-quyet-duoc-chi-dinh-bao-chua-cho-ho-duy-hai-nhu-the-nao-a73921.html

e. Radio France Internationale broadcast 17 December, 2014

http://vi.rfi.fr/viet-nam/20141217-hanh-trinh-doi-cong-ly-cho-cac-tu-toi-bi-ham-oan/