The shocking pictures of Mr. Truong with his face covered in blood were immediately spreading on the Internet showing how police brutality is escalating in Vietnam. The brutal attack was aimed to prevent Mr. Truong from participating in the protest, which is scheduled at 9 a.m. on March 23, 2014, at the Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi, calling for the release of Mrs. Bui Thi Minh Hang.
"They kicked out at his motorcycle to crash it; he left it behind and ran away from them; they chased him and hit him with metal tubes on his face and head. When he collapsed on the ground, they continued to kick him and beat him on his face. His helmet provided some protections to his head, but he was injured badly on his face and eyes.
Police at Nam Dong police station, just 200 meters away, heard the loud noise and screams but they ignored what was happening, waited for the attackers to finish their task then appeared at the scene 20 minutes later. A combined team of police from the elite 141 and 113 units (which are similar to SWAT in the west) was standing guard 20 meters away but took no action to help the victim. Uncle Dung had to call his friends for help and tried his best to get into the condominium building at 187 Ho Dac Di Street to take refuge,” wrote Ngoc Nhi Nguyen on her Facebook.
Mr. Truong was later taken to Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi by his friends.
At 8 PM, Mr. Truong said he got headache, felt dizzy and the pain was widespread that he could not walk by himself.
Talking to Danlambao reporter, Mr. Truong described the assault as follows:
"This afternoon, after lunch I rode to the gas station to refuel my motorcycle. While approaching the gas station I saw 4 men on 2 motorcycles which were suddenly chasing me. They rode alongside and forcefully kicked out at my motorcycle. They crashed it then used metal tubes to attack me, mainly hitting at my legs. I yelled ‘police attack civilian’ but bystanders did not dare to help me because the men were so violent and aggressive. Then I tried to call my friends for help.
They wore helmets and masks and repeatedly beat me. When I fell down they struck me hard on the legs; the strike effectively grounded me on the road; they continued to kick me on my face. I am feeling dizzy and the pain is widespread.
Today, the hospital took x-rays and performed CT scan. They told me that I don’t have bone fracture but suffer major soft tissue injury. I got stitches on my eyes.
I confirm that [the attackers] are police. I don’t have any problems with my neighbors and make no offense to anybody. I do good things for everyone, including strangers, as much as I can. I am not the first victim of this kind of attack. Most recently, blogger Gio Lang Thang (Trinh Anh Tuan) was brutally assaulted a few days ago. In particular, Le Quoc Quyet and Mrs. Nga from Vung Tau were stopped by traffic police and attacked by regime-hired thugs or plainclothes police. I am sure you know that incident. Therefore, there is no doubt [who got involved] in this incident. I take legal responsibility for my words.
Because a protest for Mrs. Bui Hang is going to take place tomorrow they wanted to break my legs so I cannot walk to the [Hoan Kiem] lake tomorrow."
