Man sets himself on fire outside Hanoi gov't office to protest court verdict

Hanoi police are investigating an attempt at self-immolation by a former village chief on Monday to protest a jail sentence imposed by the city court.

Bui Huu Tuan, 68, former chief of Dao Ngan Village in Hanoi’s Chuong My District, poured half a liter of gasoline on his body and set himself alight in front of the Central Citizen Reception Committee on Ngo Thi Nham Street in Ha Dong District on Monday. The committee, under the Government Inspectorate, is tasked with receiving people's complaints against public offices.

Colonel Nguyen Thanh Tung, deputy director of Hanoi Police, told the press late on Tuesday that on the morning of the incident, Tuan came to the committee with another man to ask for help in appealing a five-year jail term handed out by Hanoi's People's Court on June 22 for abuse of power.

The two were guided to the Supreme People’s Court for further procedures.

But at around 11:25 a.m. that day, Tuan returned to the committee and set himself on fire. People in the vicinity rushed to save him.

Doctors have said that he was burned 77 percent of his body and a third of that were deep burns that cut into underlying fat, muscles and bones.

Police are investigating further.