Overreaction to the Doan Thi Huong incident
7/3/17
Those days, Vietnamese people,
at home and abroad, are paying much attention to the incident of Đoàn Thị Hương (Doan Thi Huong), a woman who is suspected of murdering North Korean Kim Jong-nam, the
estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader, in Kuala Lumpur last month. On
social media, a campaign was started to raise money to support Huong and her
family. Bloggers, facebookers and a bunch of keyboard heroes who likely have no
details or even do not read a whole related article have eagerly pleaded for
Huong without any thoughtful consideration. Is it worthy? Even, some
self-claimed human rights lawyers like Le Quoc Quan, Tran Vu Hai also cried out
to call for legal aids to Huong. They incited many radical intellectuals, anti-government
individuals, foreign reporters like Kham of Reuters and even Bishop Ngo Quang
Kiet due to Huong’s Christian record. And yes, all of them have rashly jumped
into helping her as she is one of their relatives. It’s not a bad thing. If it
truly began from their heart of supporting a poor countrywoman, it must even be
encouraged as a good Vietnamese tradition of helping poor people.
Unfortunately, it’s not totally like that in this case. On the one hand they
have called out for Huong’s support, but on the other they have slandered and
distorted as the Vietnamese government has abandoned its citizen and eagerly
criticized for that. What on earth are you thinking people?
Firstly, we all are not sure about her
innocence in this case, the Malaysian authorities are carrying out the
investigation. Huong and her accomplices said that they believed they were part
of a prank TV show playing harmless tricks on unsuspecting passengers.
Indonesian Siti Aishah told authorities that she was paid the equivalent of $90.
But that’s just what they say, to confirm that we have to wait for answer from
the investigation. The attack was caught on grainy airport surveillance video,
Huong was seen clearly in a t-shirt with LOL emblazoned across the front. A leaked
CCTV footage from Kuala Lumpur airport shows two women shoving something into
Kim's face. The 45-year-old later suffered a seizure and was dead before he
reached hospital. Malaysian police have said Kim was assassinated with VX -- a
lethal nerve agent manufactured for chemical warfare and listed by the UN as a
weapon of mass destruction. The high-profile killing has attracted
international intrigue, with South
Korea’s spy agency saying on Wednesday that two women, thought to be
North Korean operatives, had poisoned the exile.
If Huong is found guilty, she could be hanged
for that. It’s legitimate and reasonable. Criminals have to be punished and
judged for their crimes. In this case, Huong committed murder in Malaysia, she
would be handled in accordance with the Malaysian criminal law. The Vietnamese
government could not do anything except proceeding citizen protection process
to ensure that she will be judge fairly and be defended by good lawyers which
the government has been doing now.
The Vietnamese Embassy in
Malaysia is implementing certain citizen protection measures for Doan Thi
Huong. The embassy is taking all necessary steps within their permitted rights
to ensure proceedings are fair and objective for Huong, including finding an
appropriate lawyer, the Vietnamese foreign ministry said. The department also
updated the family on Huong’s health conditions following her court appearance.
Vietnam's foreign ministry met
with Huong's family to explain to them the legal assistance that she would get
and emphasized that it was doing what it could to protect her legal rights.
"Vietnam’s embassy in
Malaysia will continue to implement citizen protection measures within their
permitted rights to ensure proceedings are fair and objective," the
statement said, adding that the embassy was finding appropriate lawyers for
her.
The embassy’s citizen
protection measures within its jurisdiction aim to ensure procedures in the
case are equal, objective and impartial, and Huong’s legitimate interests are
protected. The measures included seeking a lawyer for Huong in line with
Malaysia’s legal regulations, the Consular Department said.
“The Vietnamese Embassy in
Malaysia is keeping a close watch on the issue,” the Consular
Department underlined.
We can see the Vietnamese government is doing
the best to protect the citizen Huong abide by the international consular
regulation, the Malaysian laws and the Vietnamese laws. So now, it’s still
unclear whether Huong is innocent and if she deserves people’s support or not.
All of these seem to be excessive response. There are many disabled individuals
who urgently need your help than. People should be vigilant to offer any help,
and moreover we should not hastily engage with other extremist keyboard heroes
in groundlessly criticizing the government while we do not have enough
information. Read more and be alert to these tricks./.
All comments [ 4 ]
Hostile elements are abusing the people's kindness, we have to be cautious on this issue.
I think for any purpose, Doan Thi Huong violated the laws and apparently that she committed murder of Kim Jong Nam. No excuse, just pardons!
Vietnamese government has done and are doing its jobs to protect Huong, but the incident happened on the Malaysian soil, it must follow their laws.
In my opinion, this Huong might not so good as people thought. We can not know if she is innocent or not. Let law do its job.
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