Vietnam keeps close watch on schoolgirl's murder in Japan

The Vietnamese Embassy in Japan has maintained contact with relevant Japanese agencies and kept a close watch on the murder case of Vietnamese citizen Le Thi Nhat Linh in Chiba prefecture, in hope of bringing the culprit to trial soon, said a spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry.

Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang (Photo: VNA)

At a regular press conference in Hanoi on April 20, spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang updated developments of investigation on the case.

Competent Japanese agencies are investing the case to define actions relating to the suspect in the murder, she said.

On March 24 this year, Le Thi Nhat Linh, a third grader in elementary school in Matsudo went missing after she left home in Matsudo to go to school.

Two days later, she was found dead without clothes at a site near a drainage ditch which is about 10-12km from the school.

The police believed Linh was kidnapped right after leaving home at 8 am on March 24.

Besides an injury on her head and marks on her neck, Linh also had an injury on her wrist and scratches on her body.

Japan arrested Shibuya Yasumasa, 46, a suspect in the murder on April 14. Chiba Police made the arrest after his DNA test matched a DNA sample found on Linh’s belongings.

While fielding reporters’ queries on Vietnam’s reaction upon hearing the news that China conducted a live firing drill, focusing on the occupation of islands in the East Sea, she said that countries in and outside the East Sea should act responsibly and in conformity with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 for peace and stability in the sea.

Maintaining peace, stability, and maritime and over flight security and safety in the East Sea is the mutual interest and responsibility of countries in and outside the region, she underscored.

In response to news that at the hearing on April 13 the Malaysian police did not cooperate in providing evidence for the defence of the two suspects in the death of a citizen of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), she said that Vietnamese and Malaysian lawyers are actively collecting evidence to defend Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese suspect, at the next court hearing.

Hang reiterated Vietnam’s stance that Huong needs to be tried in a fair and objective manner in line with Malaysia’s law and international practices, with her legitimate rights ensured.

Doan Thi Huong, 28, is one of the two female suspects in the murder of Kim Chol, a citizen of the DPRK, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13.

On March 1, the two were charged with murder, which they denied, saying that they were deceived into taking part in an innocuous prank.

(Source: NDO)