Former National Assembly member Nguyen Sy Cuong ploughed into the teenager and her father before hitting a tree on a Hanoi street on May 30, 2025.
Coverage of the crash was minimal at the time, but social media lit up in recent weeks with discussion of the accident and its 18-year-old victim, with many users alleging the driver was drunk.
Some complained that their posts were taken down, while flowers left at the crash site – tree number 55 on Nguyen Huy Tu, a leafy street in the centre of the capital – were swiftly removed.
Security officials were deployed to prevent any further tributes.
Vietnam’s authorities generally move swiftly to stamp out dissent and detain critics, especially those who find an audience on social media.
But in an extraordinary broadcast on state television on Monday night (Aug 17), police confirmed the crash, the death and the fact the driver was former MP Nguyen Sy Cuong, whose wife is the country’s culture, sports and tourism minister.
Posts about the crash went viral after the culture ministry banned more than a dozen songs by singer MCK for bad language.
The VTV broadcast said Nguyen Sy Cuong was not prosecuted because the victim’s family chose not to press charges.
As proof, the programme featured the victim’s father Do Viet Hung, who was injured in the crash. He confirmed the official version and urged his fellow Vietnamese to drop the issue.
“We have no complaints, nor do we have any reservations or questions regarding how the investigative agency handled our family’s case,” he said, speaking with his face obscured.
“Above all, as Vietnamese citizens, we must cherish our patriotism and avoid being swayed by reactionary elements,” he added, using a phrase often used by the Vietnamese state to refer to government critics.
A Ministry of Public Security spokesman said it had “detected extremely dangerous plots and intentions by hostile forces, reactionaries, and bad actors – particularly terrorists – to incite unrest and cause disturbances”.
Read the full article here
