Echoes of Injustice: What a Single Gunshot Reveals About Vietnam Today

Minh Viễn wrote this Vietnamese article, published in Luật Khoa Magazine on May 2, 2025. The Vietnamese Magazine translated this into English.

While jubilant crowds in Saigon—Hồ Chí Minh City—celebrate the anniversary of the 1975 victory with patriotic fanfare, over 100 kilometers away in Vĩnh Long Province, a father ended his life after committing what he believed to be an act of justice.

In September 2024, his 14-year-old daughter was tragically killed in a traffic accident. While some witnesses held the driver of a car that crashed into her e-bike responsible for her death, the police investigation concluded otherwise. They declared that no prosecution would follow, stating that “the person responsible for the socially dangerous act is the deceased.” The “deceased,” in this case, was the 14-year-old girl.

On social media, rumors circulated that the car’s driver was related to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Hoàng Vân, head of the Trà Ôn District Police—the same official who signed the decision not to pursue charges.

After his daughter’s death, this grieving father turned to social media, pleading for justice and accountability. But his calls were met with silence. Consumed by despair, he ultimately took matters into his own hands. In late April 2025, he shot and wounded the car’s driver with a homemade gun before turning the weapon on himself. 

It is easy to sympathize with a father’s pain, but his wrongful act of harming another human being cannot be justified, regardless of motive. No one has the right to declare themselves the embodiment of justice. The law is founded on the belief that justice will be carried out transparently and impartially; the law exists to protect lives and ensure social fairness.

But such faith can only endure in a pluralistic society governed by the rule of law—where the legislative, executive, and judicial branches function independently and prevent each other from abusing their power. This was the foundational spirit behind the legal philosophy championed by Enlightenment thinkers like Montesquieu.

In contrast, Vietnam is ruled entirely by the Communist Party, which controls all branches of government. As a result, citizens cannot expect protection and they are afforded no guarantees of freedom, the right to life, or justice.

Montesquieu once warned:

“When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.

Again, there is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control; for the judge would be then the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with violence and oppression.”

After months of anguish, perhaps the father in Vĩnh Long Province saw no other way forward. His faith in justice, the legal system, and those in power had crumbled. In his final, most desperate moment, he did what he thought was right and just in a world silent to his cries for help. 

His death is but a mournful note, drowned out by the noise of celebration. Soon, this story will be forgotten, buried beneath the euphoria of a victory fermented over 50 years. The nation will continue to intoxicate the next generation with holidays, pompous slogans, hollow words, and the distorted glow of a past rewritten.

More than 50 years ago, Việt Nam once offered a vision of hope. A pluralistic system was taking root. The principle of separation of powers was being practiced. A society governed by the rule of law was being built. This was the Republic of Việt Nam in the south, a nation that ceased to exist on April 30, 1975. 

Yes, the Republic of Việt Nam was still rife with injustice and the law was not always upheld—but it offered something essential: hope. Hope for a better future, for justice, for fairness, and for the belief that the law could serve and protect the people.