(PLO)- With the case of two fishermen being abused at sea, the clip is a very important source to handle those involved in the abuse of others.
The case of two fishermen being brutally beaten by colleagues and the son of the fishing boat owner at sea has been prosecuted by the police of Tran Van Thoi district, Ca Mau province for investigation. This is a very timely move by the police right after the clip of this case appeared on social networks and the press responded to it.
Previously, immediately after receiving information from the press and watching clips of the torture case, the leaders of Ca Mau province directed the provincial police to clarify and report in writing to the province before November 21. And the result (initially) is that the police have prosecuted the case.
 |
| Victim Truong Van Trung when being tortured at sea. Image cut from clip |
There will be many “why” questions in this case: Why did the abuse cause two people to break a total of five teeth (one person has four, the other has one); broken ears, full of injuries like that and has been reported by two victims since May 2022, but the police have not taken any formal action? Why did the police not assess the victim’s injuries to have a basis to determine whether the case was prosecuted at the request of the victim or not?
And if the initial denunciation-receiving unit assesses that the injury rate is not enough to warrant criminal prosecution for intentionally causing injury, why don’t they consider the case under the charge of torturing others until the end? when social networks publish clips and press information?…
According to regulations, the maximum time limit for handling criminal reports is four months, but in this case, the case has been nearly half a year.
Back to the case, six months ago, two victims reported to the Police of Song Doc town, Tran Van Thoi district about the behavior of the people on the fishing boat, they did not ask for criminal handling, but only asked for compensation. often. Perhaps this is the reason why the police did not have any official proceedings until … the clip was spread on social networks. It should also be recalled that during this time, the police asked the people on board three times to come ashore to verify but they were not present.
According to Circular 28/2020/TT-BCA dated March 26, 2020 (on the order and procedures for receiving and handling denunciations and crime reports) of the Ministry of Public Security, competent agencies will handle Crime reports from sources: Newspapers, denunciations of individuals and organizations, telephones, emails, letters… Accompanied by extremely strict order and procedures to quickly handle criminal acts, does not ignore criminals and does not unjustly harm innocent people.
In Circular 28/2020, the Ministry of Public Security clearly stipulates the time limit and procedures for information verification, coordination, etc. of competent authorities. However, this circular has not mentioned the news source as “information on social networks”. Meanwhile, with the case of torturing other people in Ca Mau, the police prosecuted it from the whistleblower’s source, the press, and made sure that the prosecution agencies consulted the clips on social networks but did not. The “online clip” can be used as a basis to prosecute the case.
There are many laws and legal documents that consider social networks as a “source” to verify and handle violations, from administrative to criminal. But in order to officially consider “information on social networks” as a source of information to report crimes and put it into the process of receiving and handling in a strict order, Circular 28/2020 has not mentioned.
Granted, social networks are borderless, with a lot of mixed information, difficult to verify, but not impossible. With clear and identifiable information as in the case of torturing others in Ca Mau, the clip is a very important source to handle the people involved in the abuse of others.
Given the popularity and authenticity of the current social network in the information life, the addition of “information on social networks” to the regulations serves as a basis for receiving settlement of denunciations and reports. Crimes can contribute to helping authorities handle violations quickly and promptly, and strengthen the responsibility of the prosecution agencies where crimes take place. This also helps people to be more aware of their rights and obligations when posting information on their social network accounts.
The police prosecuted the case in Ca Mau, although late, it also relieved the public’s frustration when watching the clip as well as ensuring the crime factor of the authorities.
HONG CHAU