Claiming compensation for the wrong father

However, in the recent trial, the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa province only accepted part of the lawsuit, forcing the People’s Procuracy of the same level to compensate Mr. Hoach’s family 1.6 billion VND. Disagreeing with this compensation, last week, Mr. Hoanh filed an appeal.

According to the content of the case, 41 years ago Mr. Huynh Chiem Phai (50 years old, his father Hoach) was the captain of the production team in Ninh Giang commune, now Ninh Giang ward, Ninh Hoa town. On October 18, 1981, after meeting at Mr. Phai’s house, Chairman of Ninh Giang Commune People’s Committee on his way home was shot and killed. Two months later, Mr. Phai and Mr. Tran Be (at that time 24 years old, living in the same commune) was detained by the police of Phu Khanh province, now Khanh Hoa province, on charges of Killing.

In 1983, Mr. Phai was released on parole on the grounds that “old age and poor health made it unnecessary to be detained further”. After many years of failing to prove that these two men committed a crime, on September 25, 1984, the Procuracy stopped investigating the accused.

Mr. Hoanh said that the day his father was arrested on charges of assassinating the commune chairman, his whole family had to live in humiliation. At that time, he was 17 years old, preparing for the university entrance exam, and his sister had to drop out of school. His brothers and sisters were laid off from work, family life was extremely difficult.

At the time of arrest, his father was in good health, but when he was released, his family had to go to the camp to support him because he could not walk and his health declined. “My father became a disabled person, paralyzed limbs, blurred vision, deaf ears, resentful because he was wronged, so his spirit was unstable. He often shouted, cried and had nightmares, so his family had to take him to him. He went to a mental hospital for treatment,” Mr. Hoanh said, adding that his father had tried to commit suicide many times but was fortunate to be discovered by his family. After many years of being released, Mr. Phai still did not receive a decision to suspend the accused.

Because of difficult life, Mr. Hoach had to leave his hometown to go to the Central Highlands to do business. In 2009, when he had economic conditions, he returned to his hometown to complain about his father. At the end of that year, his family received a copy of the decision to suspend the investigation from the People’s Procuracy of Khanh Hoa province.

“This decision has been made, but the authorities still do not organize a public apology and compensation for my father and Mr. Tran Be because they think the statute of limitations has expired. I made an application to the central procedural authorities. and the locality, but they kept switching back and forth without solving. In 2015, my father committed suicide and still have not received an apology,” said Mr. Hoanh.

In 2019, the People’s Procuracy of Khanh Hoa province just organized public apology relatives of Mr. Phai and Mr. Tran Be. More than a year later, Mr. Be was compensated more than 500 million VND. After much negotiation, the People’s Procuracy of Khanh Hoa province only agreed to compensate Mr. Hoach’s family more than 474 million VND.

Disagreeing, Mr. Hoanh represented his family to sue the Procuratorate, demanding compensation of 4.4 billion VND including: mental damage, lost actual income, health damage and care costs for the father. .

At the first-instance court hearing, the representative of the People’s Procuracy of Khanh Hoa province still maintained the view that only compensation for Mr. Hoanh’s family was 474 million dong for damage caused by lost income and mental loss (from the date of arrest to the date of being arrested). suspension of the accused in 1984) and other expenses. Defendant does not agree to pay compensation for mental loss by the date of receiving a copy of the decision to suspend the accused as well as material damage due to compromised health and care costs because he thinks that “there is not enough evidence to support the defendant’s mental health.” keep”.

Based on the file, the trial panel determined that the actual lost income calculated from the day Mr. Phai was unjustly detained (December 1981) to the date of the decision to suspend the investigation (September 1984) was more than 133 million. copper; The mental loss as of the date of receiving the copy of the decision to suspend the accused is nearly 1.3 billion VND and more than 118 million VND in other expenses as agreed by the parties. Regarding the fact that Mr. Hoanh’s family demanded compensation for more than VND 1.5 billion in health losses and care costs for Mr. Phai from the time he was released from prison until his death, the court said, “There is no documentary evidence to support Mr. Phai. There is no evidence to prove that Mr. Phai suffered a violation of his health, leading to incapacity to work”.

“The fact that Mr. Phai committed suicide and had to be treated at the hospital, leading to his death had no relation to his unjust detention, so there was no basis for accepting it,” the judgment stated.

For his part, the representative of the People’s Procuracy of Khanh Hoa province also appealed, disagreeing with the court forcing him to pay nearly 1.3 billion VND for mental loss to Phai’s family by the time he received a copy of the decision to suspend the accused.

Hai Duyen