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Captain Chau Minh Trung, Lieutenant Nguyen Quang Thai and Senior Lieutenant Doan Tan Phong were sacked from the police force, Lam Thanh Sol, director of the police department of the Mekong Delta's Soc Trang Province, announced at a press meet Friday.
Captain Tran Minh Doi received a warning, while Captain Hua Truong An lost his title as deputy head of the Traffic Police and Order Team of Vinh Chau Town of Soc Trang.
The five were patroling on the Nam Song Hau National Highway in Vinh Chau on Sunday at 3 p.m. when they saw two people riding an Exciter 150 motorbike from the opposite direction. They suspected that the people were underage, thus not having a driver's license, and were driving under the influence, so they signaled for the motorbike to stop.
However, the rider sped up and tried to escape. The traffic police officers chased after them for 30 km before being able to stop the vehicle.
Angry at the two people on motorbike, Trung, Thai and Phong started beating them. The scene was captured by a surveillance camera at a nearby warehouse and was later circulated on social media.
Security camera footage shows police officers beating two boys in Soc Trang Province, September 25, 2022.
The police officers then brought the two back to a police station in Vinh Hai Commune. They determined that the two boys on the motorbike were 16 and 15, and that they had several violations, including speeding past traffic lights and driving without a license.
"This is a regretful incident that affects the reputation of the police and leadership of Soc Trang. Our stance is to strictly deal with the issue," said Sol.
Vo Dan Mach, a lawyer at the Tapha law firm, said there are no regulations that allow traffic police officers to beat people in traffic, even if they have committed traffic violations. However, they can use measures like seizing vehicles and licenses, as well as searching the vehicles. In dangerous situations where use of force is necessary, traffic police officers are allowed to do so to incapacitate threats. However, such actions can only be carried out as "legitimate self-defense" or in "urgent situations."
