ENGLISH SCRIPT – RFI INTERVIEW WITH MRS. NGUYEN THI NHUNG IN REGARD TO RECENT UNLAWFUL ARREST OF HER AND HER DAUGHTER (PHUONG UYEN) BY HANOI POLICE SECURITY OFFICERS. (translated by HT) RFI: Greetings Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhung. Thank you for accepting our request to interview you today. First of all, can you explain the details about the incident happened yesterday when you and your daughter, Phuong Uyen, were arrested and then escorted home today? Mrs. Nhung: Of course. Yesterday we checked out of the hotel in Hanoi to catch a flight at 8PM same day, the 25th, to go back to Saigon. The flight then delayed to 9:15PM so we stopped by blogger Nguyen Tuong Thuy’s home for dinner before heading out to the airport. Nguyen Tuong Thuy is also Phuong Uyen’s foster parent. While we were preparing for dinner, roughly 20 officers in plain clothes and uniform, all without nametag, broke down the gate and door, stormed into the house without asking for permission and without a warrant. Phuong Uyen and I were on the second floor at the time with all the luggage ready for the return trip. We overheard screaming and ran down. As soon as we appeared, the officers grabbed and twisted my hair, shuffled me to the wall, and then dragged me out. They did the same with Phuong Uyen. This happened around 6PM when daylight is almost out and it rained pretty hard outside. We were grabbed by the hair, beaten badly while being dragged onto police car in shoeless, fully soaked condition. We were taken to a strange place in Hanoi, which I could not recognize. When we arrived, I saw public security officers there. They separated Uyen and me. They then pressured Uyen and I overheard her loud cry and scream. After a long period til 9PM, I did tell them about our 9:15 flight and that they were making us miss our flight. They reassured me that they would take responsibility for that. Shortly thereafter, they drove both of us to the airport without shoes, hair all messy, clothes unbuttoned, and still fully soaked with rainwater. They escorted us to the airport like criminals while they illegally detained us without any reason or warrant. They did not even issue any written report about the arrest, did not wear any nametag, nor answer any of our questions about their name. They simply said they were officers from Public Security Agency and requested me to write a note requesting them to escort us to the airport, requesting their presence to escort us on the same flight. They then shuffled us onto the plane with force and confiscated all my belongings including phones, purses, and without any cash. RFI: Yes, so the harassment continued at the airport. Right? Mrs. Nhung: Well, there were two phases. When we were taken to the airport, Uyen and I have to hold on to each other to walk since I was weakened from hunger, from being cold, and from my asthma. I suffered an asthma attack on the way to the tarmac and passed out at the stairs leading up the plane. Flight attendances at the scene concluded that I was unfit for the flight and due to safety reason, they helped my daughter brought me back to the airport waiting room and left me laying there. I did not know what happened while I was passed out; however, I had to witnessed a horrific scene when I came to: There were over 30 people of all sorts, airport security, police officers, both in uniform and in plain clothes... some were grabbing my hair, some held my arms, some held my legs as if they are about to rip me apart while I was dragged on the floor like an animal. As for Uyen, she was being dragged ahead of me. They were pulling at her shirt, touching her inappropriately, pulling and pushing her in a way that was hard to look at. I believe there were many people at the airport who had witnessed this. Our flight took off at around 1 or 2 AM. We were not given any food or drinks for the whole night up to this morning when we were escorted to Saigon and then from Saigon to Binh Thuan. All along the way, we complained about thirst but they did not even allowed us to have any drink. You can imagine how ruthless that is. RFI: Yes. So during the time that they were holding you, harassed and beaten you, pressured you as well as escorted you... did they clearly say anything about why they were doing such thing? Mrs. Nhung: No. Nothing. Not a reason, not a legal document. They just stormed in and robbed us. Any call come in, they would grabbed the phone and twisted our hands to prevent us from taking the call. As far as personal belongings and properties I had on me, they robbed it all. Uyen and I arrived home with nothing. Not even shoe for me. There was a bystander at the airport who felt bad for Uyen, so he went and got her a pair of sandal. RFI: So what is Phuong Uyen’s current condition as we speak? Mrs. Nhung: When she got home, Phuong Uyen’s face was badly swollen on one side because they punched and slapped her. She now cannot speak much because she was grabbed and dragged by the neck. She also suffered multiple wounds on her body. There are bruises on her body under the shirt, on her arms and legs. Some of her toe nails are still bleeding I do not know why. RFI: Yes, so is your family plan to take Uyen to the hospital to have her injuries checked to see how severe are they? Mrs. Nhung: Yes. We do plan to take her to the hospital to assess her injuries and her health. We will also write a formal complain to accuse them for deliberately violate our health, threaten our lives, and confiscate our properties. However, we are facing certain difficulties now. The purses I brought with me contains an amount of cash my friends have gathered in recent days to help us. I saved all of it up to a decent amount in USD and took it with me on this trip. They took it all and now we are left with nothing. RFI: Of course. So now that you are somewhat calmed down, can you think of any reason why they would do so? Is it because they see that you came to Hanoi to meet other bloggers and people who are currently being monitored by them? Mrs. Nhung: I do not see any reason. They did not provide any reason. Even today in the afternoon when we were taken back to the local precinct, the only document they gave us was the court decision on the probation, which would take effect on 9/25/13. That would be yesterday. Which means that we would only violate it if we traveled out of local province on or after 9/26/13? We were on our way back yesterday, and that was 9/25/13. We still have not violated the probation terms. We think this is just their way to deliberately pressure and warn us, flexing their power through harassment and use of force. Their act of violating our rights, threatening our health, risking our lives, and confiscating our property were illegal. We will file complaint and sue them for this. We will public the court decision they provided us either tonight or tomorrow on the net. RFI: So you would sue them on the basis that they did not follow legal court procedures? Mrs. Nhung: Yes, of course. When the court have not issue the decision on when to carryout the probation, we have the right to go anywhere we want because there are no legal binding, no clear directives on the time and day which is stated by the law. They were doing this on purpose. They totally disregard the law. RFI: Yes. We want to express our thanks to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhung, Nguyen Phuong Uyen’s mother after they were arrested and escorted home from yesterday til today. Mrs. Nhung: Yes.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 06:57:28 +0000
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