 |
| Photo: Peter Lam Bui |
Update: Do Thi Minh Hanh and Truong Minh Duc left LongBinh
Police station at 2:00 am. The two were immediately hospitalized at Hoan
My Saigon Clinic. According to Huynh Ngoc Chenh’s Facebook, “both were
beaten black and blue. So bad were Ms. Hanh’s head and body injuries
that she was unable to walk; Hanh was helped to move to a vehicle
though….”
Phương Thảo (Danlambao) translated
- Around 20 policemen wearing uniforms and plain clothes rushed in,
overpowered, beat and arrested Ms. Do Thi Minh Hanh and Mr. Truong Minh
Duc while they were helping workers with legal procedures in Bien Hoa
City, Dong Nai Province.
Both are members of VietLabor, a prestigious organization with numerous
specific activities in support of workers’ interests in Vietnam.
Hanh and Duc were reportedly arrested while they, along with a lawyer,
were holding legal consultations with Yupoong Company’s workers in order
to sue the business owner owing to the recent unilateral termination of
labor contracts without satisfactory compensation.
On his own Facebook, Mr.Truong Minh Duc uploaded video clips of Ms.Hanh being overpowered and taken away by plain-clothes agents.
The police have also confisticated all of the workers’ legal papers in use to sue the company.
Currently, there is no way to contact Hanh and Duc.
Before, there was a fire at Loteco Industrial Park (Bien Hoa city, Dong
Nai Province) on 21 September, 2015. Some employees had to stop working
at Factory 1 inside Yupoong Company’s premises.
Later, the company management announced the work contract termination of
nearly 2,000 workers, most of whom were long-time employees. Owing to
this decision, the laborers, especially 180 females- some are pregnant-
have found themselves in extremely difficult situations with the
compensation of only-one-month salary.
VietLabor members were promptly present to struggle side by side with
these “small-mouthed” laborers, who were almost unable to publicly voice
their concerns.
Despite this, the communist authorities in Vietnam– those who always
claim they are “the true representatives of the working class” not only
lost touch with the workers, but also even ordered the police to
heavy-handedly suppress, brutally beat and imprison the people who tried
to defend these workers’ interests.
Some family members and activists are reportedly on their way to Long
Binh Police station in Bien Hoa City, where the two LaborViet members
are supposed to be detained, to cross-examine the police.
 |
Saigon partners and reporter Truong Minh Duc’s wife on their way to the police station. Photo: FB Nguyen Hoang Vi.
|
Minh Hanh is currently detained upstairs; Minh Duc is lying on a bench
downstairs. Cell phones are violently grabbed by the police and no one
is allowed to approach the scene to take photos.
0 comments:
Post a Comment