An 81 year-old man in Bac Ninh Province, who was cleared of a murder charge after more than 40 years, has asked for compensation of VND12 billion ($550,000).

Mr. Tran Van Them

Lawyer Nguyen Van Hoa who represents Tran Van Them confirmed his client’s request, saying that the Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam, the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam and the Ministry of Public Security had already been petitioned.

The compensation was based on psychological damage, the legal campaign for justice, and loss of income that Them had to face over the past 43 years since he was convicted of murder in 1973 and sentenced to death, particularly during the five and a half year imprisonment period, Hoa specified.

According to Pham Van Ha, chief justice of the Supreme People's Court in Hanoi under the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam, claimed that his agency had not yet received Them's petition. However, he added that, an official from the agency has been assigned to discuss with Them's lawyer about compensation.

Ha hoped that the case would be a major wake-up call for Vietnam's judicial agencies and expected that Them would receive ‘suitable’ compensation.

Judicial agencies recently issued a formal public apology to Them after wrongly condemning him to death 43 years ago.

On August 11, senior judge Bui Van Hoa from the Supreme People’s Court read the apology in Them's home in Yen Phong District witnessed by representatives of judicial agencies, provincial authorities and his relatives.

Them and his cousin Nguyen Khac Van went to Vinh Phuc Province to sell pipe tobacco on July 23, 1970. While resting at a local barber’s shop at night after finishing their work, they were attacked by a robber. As a result, Van was killed and Them suffered from head injuries.

Them said they had been robbed, but local authorities insisted he was the prime suspect and detained him. In August 1972, the People’s Court of Vinh Phuc charged him with murdering his cousin and sentenced him to death. Them appealed against the conviction, however, in 1973, he lost his appeal and the death sentence was upheld by the appeals court.

In 1975, a man confessed to kill Van and the Supreme Court ordered a fresh investigation and then freed Them from prison, but there was no official declaration that he was innocent.

Last year, the People's Supreme Court of Vietnam also compensated VND 7.2 billion (USD360,000) to Nguyen Thanh Chan in Bac Giang Province who had served 10 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction.

Dtinews