Vietnam Police Confirm Ex-Politician Unintentionally Killed Teenager, Exempted from Prosecution

Vietnam's police have officially acknowledged that a former politician, Nguyen Sy Cuong, was unintentionally responsible for the death of a teenager in a traffic accident last year. The politician, a former deputy chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee and husband to a current minister, has been exempted from criminal prosecution, according to a police officer's statement on state television.

The accident occurred in May 2025 in central Hanoi when Cuong, driving in the wrong lane, struck a motorbike. Police reported that Cuong tested negative for alcohol and admitted responsibility. The investigation, supported by prosecutors, concluded that Cuong violated road-traffic regulations. However, Colonel Nguyen Duc Long, deputy chief of Hanoi police, stated that mitigating factors and the victim's family withdrawing their complaint led to the exemption from criminal liability.

“

Hostile and reactionary forces ... have deliberately strung together the aforementioned isolated incidents, along with several other cases, to influence and manipulate young people, students, and cause a disruption of public order and security.

This official confirmation comes after months of online speculation and criticism. Recently, people began leaving flowers at the accident site, an act described by dissident and youth groups as a protest. Authorities, however, have characterized this online attention and the flower-laying as exploitation by "hostile and reactionary forces" aiming to disrupt public order. Reuters observed plainclothes officers monitoring the area, and videos showed uniformed personnel preventing people from leaving flowers.

The victim, identified as 18-year-old Do Ngoc Phuong Thuy, was posthumously acknowledged in a public funeral notice. Her father, Do Viet Hung, expressed gratitude for the online community's concern but stated in the television report that "the matter is now in the past, and all issues have been clearly resolved by the investigative authorities." The report did not show his face.

“

I would like to express our sincere gratitude for the online community's concern regarding this incident and our family. However, the matter is now in the past, and all issues have been clearly resolved by the investigative authorities.