During his last days on his sick bed, teacher Dinh Dang Dinh was certain that his fatal illness was exacerbated by the cruel Communist prison system. Teacher Dinh also suspected the possibility of poisoning whilst he was imprisoned, which could have been responsible for the entire destruction of his body.
From August to November 2012, in detention at the police prison in Daknong, teacher Dinh discovered blood when he was toileting. When he asked the prison authorities to have a medical examination in the hospital, not only was his request was refused but he also was beaten, and thrown back to the prison sick bay.
Video: Teacher Dinh Dang Dinh reveals incidences of poisoning and a police beating when he required a medical help in prison.
Below are his words about the possible poisoning through an interview with the Vietnamese Redemptorists’ News:
Teacher Dinh: In the prison they treated me extremely badly. But there are two things I need to emphasize most because my time and my health don’t allow me to talk more. First, it is about the treatment of the sick in jail. In my case, from the day they arrested me to the time I began to serve the prison term, they didn’t give me any treatment. They didn’t begin treatment in time, and they didn’t give me treatment from the very beginning of my health problems. That is critical, in demonstrating the government’s policy of violating human rights, showing its policy of torturing prisoners. This is the first thing the community must pay attention to.
Secondly, I do not rule out the fact that I might be poisoned. I discovered a strange smell in the prison food and water. As I am a chemical engineer, I knew exactly that these chemicals are very dangerous substances for the human body. But it was quite late when I recognized the harm they had done to my body. They were the reason that my kidneys were damaged. The poisonous substance was ammonium sulphate, an ingredient they use in fertilizer. I don’t know if they did it because they didn’t know, or whether they did it on purpose, or whether the staff taking care of me put that substance in my water without knowing it. From the day of my discovery I didn’t drink that water. I took the water to my cell but I didn’t drink it.
Through an interview with journalist Truong Minh Duc, teacher Dinh told him how he was beaten when he requested medical and health care:
Journalist Truong Minh Duc: Did they beat you in the detention centre or in the prison sick bay?
Teacher Dinh: That happened when I was in the detention centre (In Daknong); I fought to be sent to the hospital for a medical check. They did not let me go; they beat me instead, (after that) they threw me into the sick bay of the centre.
Journalist Truong Minh Duc: Were you beaten by a prisoner or by prison officers?
Teacher Dinh: Police beat me. I asked to go to the hospital because of my bleeding. I requested to see the supervisors but they didn’t come. I then shouted out, asking to see them so I could get their permission. I knocked on their door; at last they had to open it.
After they opened the door, half way from the prison cell to the sick bay of the centre, they held me down and beat me, then threw me into the sick bay.
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Those responsible for leading Teacher Dinh Dang Dinh to his heartbreaking death were none other than the Vietnamese Communist government.
