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Journalist Trương Minh Đức was tracked and savagely beaten by police
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Translated by Jasmine Tran - At 8:30pm on 2 November 2014, a group of police abruptly obstructed freelance journalist Trương Minh Đức, at Ngã 3 Suối Giữa, on Highway 13 Bình Dương. He was then cruelly beaten.
At least 8 police were involved in the near-fatal assault. Helmets were used as weapons; the journalist's head had been repeatedly bashed. He was brutally punched and kicked. It is possible some of his ribs are broken as a result of the attack.
The police further seized all of Đức’s possessions, including a laptop, an iPad, and over ten million Vietnamese dong.
It has been revealed that a police colonel named Hòa was among the police who assaulted the journalist. This man, Hoà, was previously involved in the unlawful arrest of Trương Minh Đức, and had physically beaten the journalist in his own house in Bến Cát Bình Dương.
Upon receiving the bad news, Mrs Nguyễn Thị Kim Thanh, Đức’s wife hurried to the scene to take her husband to hospital.
Later that night, Đức was transported to Saigon for medical treatment. He was in a severely pained state, only barely able to breathe.
After the police attack, images of journalist Trương Minh Đức’s face were seen on social networking websites, with bruises and covered with mud and dirt. Such images demonstrate that the Vietnamese police continually treat political dissidents in Vietnam with extreme cruelty; such an attitude from any government is alarming indeed.
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