The provincial People’s Committee released the information yesterday after the fishing boat's captain, 42-year-old Le Van Han, informed his family by phone from Brunei that the crewmembers will be tried on February 4, 2012, Phap Luat newspaper reported.
Besides Han, the other crewmembers are Vo Cao Nam, 17, Tran Ku, 39, Truong Anh Dung, 43, Tran Nhu Hoai, 23, Vo Thanh That, 32, Nguyen Van Phu, 34, Vo Hoi, 43, and Vo Du Rin, 22.
On January 20, 2012 the Brunei sea police captured the BD-96092TS fishing boat with nine fishermen on board in a sea area of the country, according to the Vietnamese Embassy in Brunei.
After the incident, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry has ordered the Vietnamese Embassy in Brunei to coordinate with other relevant agencies in taking necessary measures to protect the detainees’ rights and interests.
One day later, the Embassy contacted the fishermen and confirmed that their health was normal.
On January 28, the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department sent a diplomatic note to the Brunei Embassy in Hanoi to request the Brunei authorities to handle the case soon and set all the Vietnamese fishermen free.
