A police officer who was involved in the death in custody of Vietnamese church elder Hoang Van Ngai in March 2013 has been arrested, apparently in connection with the case, it was reported in mid-October.
According to the Vietnamese media, the local authorities are conducting an investigation into possible acts of ‘irresponsibility’ by the police which may have contributed to the death of Hoang Van Ngai.
Ngai was an elder of Bui Tre Church, part of the legally-recognised Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South). Ngai defended the church when the authorities tried to close it, stood up against abuses of power and refused to pay bribes. In March 2013, he and his brother Hoang Van Pa were arrested without formal documentation. Ngai’s brother, who was detained in an adjacent room, heard the sound of violent beating just before his brother’s limp body was removed from the cell. Photographs of Ngai’s corpse show severe bruising which was not there before he was detained.
