Hanoi - A dissident writer has been charged with assaulting a man outside her Hanoi house after she tried to attend the trial of several democracy activists last week, a police official said Tuesday. Officer Nguyen Xuan Thanh of the Dong Da District Police confirmed that writer Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, 48, had been charged with hitting a man with a brick outside her house Thursday evening. Earlier that day, police had stopped her car en route to the port city of Haiphong, where she had planned to show her support for six democracy activists on trial for criticizing government policies.
The nature of the confrontation outside Thuy's house is unclear. The government-controlled online newspaper Dan Tri cited police Saturday as saying that Thuy's husband, Do Ba Tan, had struck a man named Nguyen Manh Diep, 41, with his motorcycle helmet during a parking dispute.
The five-foot-tall Thuy then allegedly threw a brick which cut Diep on his neck.
That account differed sharply from that of Thuy's 13-year-old daughter, who spoke with the German Press Agency
