Hanoi People’s Procuracy compensates wrongly convicted citizen
The Hanoi People’s Procuracy agreed for the first time to compensate a man wrongly convicted of forging legal papers and documents to help foreigners adopt Vietnamese children, said a court officer on Tuesday.
Hoang Huu Phuong, a resident of the northern province of Bac Giang, was awarded 29 million Vietnamese Dong (VND) for the time he spent in jail, the officer said. Mr. Phuong had originally demanded 393 million VND in compensation, he added. One million Vietnamese Dong is equivalent to about $US 66.
Mr. Phuong spent 258 days in jail before he was cleared by Hanoi Supreme People’s Court in July 1997, the court officer reported.
Mr. Phuong was taken into custody in 1996 for his alleged involvement in obtaining children from orphanages for foreigners seeking to adopt Vietnamese children, said the officer. He stood trial on charges of forging government and social organizations’ papers and documents, he added.
The conviction was overturned by the Hanoi Supreme People’s Court a year after Mr. Phuong was first charged of the crime.
Reported by Viet Chien – Translated by Tran Phong.
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 23 November, 2004, 22:31:33 (GMT+7)
Copyright Thanh Nien News
