CTV Danlambao/Translated by Nhu Ngoc (Danlambao) - According to an urgent report, Hanoi police stopped and beat Mr. Nguyen Bac Truyen and his wife Bui Thi Kim Phuong when the two were on their way to the Australian embassy.
Reportedly, security agents have been chasing Mr. Truyen and his wife since February 23, 2014 when they left Saigon for Hanoi. Around 2:30 p.m. on February 24, 2014, plainclothes security agents stopped the couple’s taxi to carry out a physical attack at the intersection of Tuan Dao and Lieu Giai in Hanoi.
After stopping the taxi, the attackers rushed in to brutally beat Mr. Truyen and his wife. The taxi driver was also beaten. They cruelly punched the victims on their faces and knocked down Mr. Truyen on the street.
When local people came to help the victims those security agents walked away, leaving behind their victims covered with blood.
Handling the pain, the couple managed to get to the Australian Embassy. Moment later, the couple was taken to a nearby hospital by embassy staffs to treat their wounds.
Mr. Nguyen Bac Truyen, 47 years old, is an active human rights activist in Vietnam. He is also a former prisoner of conscience, convicted of 3 and a half years in prison for allegedly "conducting propaganda against the state.”
As a lawyer, Mr. Truyen has written many articles promoting democracy and human rights, and advocating for prisoners of conscience currently detained in harsh communist prisons in Vietnam.
On February 09, 2014, hundreds of police conducted a violent raid to arrest Mr. Truyen at the couple’s home in Dong Thap province. He was released the next day and forced to return to his parents’ home in Saigon. Following his arrest, the authorities have carried out a series of illegal activities against his friends and other activists including Bui Thi Minh Hang, Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh, and Nguyen Van Minh those who were arbitrarily arrested while on their way to visit Mr. Truyen’s family in Dong Thap and are still being detained for 14 days.
Undoubtedly, the communist authorities have actively carried out a political repression against Mr. Truyen and other activists; and the level of violence has become increasingly serious.
