Suspect Nguyen Thanh Chan

The unjust case of Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chan took place in August 2003, in which the victim is Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoan - 31 years old residing in Hamlet Me, Nghia Trung, Viet Yen District, Bac Giang province. died with multiple stab wounds on his body. According to the investigation, the victim was murdered. The investigating agency summoned about 30 men in Nghia Trung commune to the agency to take statements, including Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chan. After 2 days of being invited to the police station for questioning, Mr. Chan was released. On August 29, 2003, Mr. Chan was detained to serve the investigation. He was later charged with murder. In March 2004, the People's Court of the province Bac Giang sentenced Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chan to life imprisonment. Four months later, the Supreme People's Court rejected the appeal and sentenced Mr. Chan to the first-instance judgment. Although at the two trials, Mr. Chan insisted that he was unjust and did not plead guilty to murder, but the judge relied on his confession at the investigative agency to sentence him.

Mr. Chan's wife, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Chien, has thoroughly investigated the case, collecting evidence to investigate the real culprit who murdered Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoan. In 2010, clues to the case began to emerge. Because of internal conflicts, some family members of the real killer of the case revealed to Ms. Chien who the real killer was. Ms. Chien has obtained many recordings of the conversation confirming that it was Ly Nguyen Chung who committed the murder. She then sent these evidences to central agencies such as the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Government Office, the Ministry of Public Security....

In the detention center, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chan constantly wrote false claims. After that, the Supreme People's Procuracy organized a re-investigation of the case. On October 25, 2013, Ly Nguyen Chung surrendered and confessed all his acts of murder and robbery. According to the testimony of Ly Nguyen Chung, after killing Ms. Hoan (at that time he was not yet 15 years old) and getting two rings and 59,000 VND, he followed his advice and fled to Lang Son, then go to Dak Lak until date of surrender.

On November 4, 2013, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chan was released. The Chief Procurator of the Supreme People's Procuracy Nguyen Hoa Binh protested against the verdict. On the afternoon of November 6, 2013, the retrial court canceled the convictions against Mr. Chan that had been made previously. On April 17, 2015, at the request of Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chan, the Supreme People's Court held a public apology to him at his place of residence in Nghia Trung commune, Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province. In July 2015, criminal Ly Nguyen Chung was brought to trial and was sentenced to 12 years in prison for murder. After being vindicated, Mr. Chan worked many times with the Supreme People's Procuracy to request compensation for honor damage. After that, the two sides agreed that Mr. Chan would be compensated 7.2 billion VND.