From Associated Press
HANOI, Vietnam – A Vietnamese court has sentenced four policemen to up to 17 years in prison for beating a suspect to death, in an unusually harsh punishment for police brutality.
Four police officers being tried in Hanoi on September 18, 2014. The court on Thursday handed down jail terms ranging between eight to 17 years for them. They were convicted of beating a suspect to death during questioning about a dispute with his neighbors in 2012. Photo: Minh Sang/Thanh Nien News
The online newspaper VnExpress said the Hanoi People’s Court convicted the deputy police chief of Kim No village outside Hanoi of murder on Thursday and sentenced him to 17 years in prison. Three other police in the village were sentenced to eight to 16 years on the same charge.
The four were charged with beating to death a man in August 2012. The court said the man was detained at the police station on suspicion of assaulting a neighbor, and his hands and feet were handcuffed to a chair while he was repeatedly beaten with a rubber club.
