Vietnam’s Parliament has officially abolished the death penalty for eight significant criminal offenses, as part of a shift towards more humane penal practices.
Vietnam Eliminates Death Penalty for Embezzlement and Other Serious Crimes
Vietnam Eliminates Death Penalty for Embezzlement and Other Serious Crimes
Vietnam's recent legislative reform aims to align its penal code with global human rights standards, impacting high-profile corruption cases.
The change was ratified unanimously by lawmakers and includes crimes such as embezzlement, espionage, and state sabotage. Now, the maximum sentence for these offenses will be life in prison, representing a progressive move in Vietnam's legal landscape. This legislative amendment is notably significant for real-estate mogul Truong My Lan, who faced the death penalty due to her involvement in a monumental $12 billion fraud case.
Nguyen Minh Duc, a lieutenant general in the police force, highlighted that the new law would aid Vietnam's ongoing anti-corruption campaign, as several countries have been hesitant to extradite suspects to Vietnam due to the previous capital punishment laws. In conjunction with this change, there are discussions in the legislature regarding a new extradition law to facilitate the repatriation of fugitives, a notable shift from past practices highlighted by cases such as the abduction of an asylum seeker from Germany who later faced embezzlement charges in Vietnam.
Though Vietnam has not disclosed the exact number of individuals currently on death row, past reports indicate that thousands have received capital sentences, with hundreds executed in recent years. The country has progressively reduced the number of offenses punishable by death from 44 in 1985 to just 10 today, including serious crimes like rioting and rape, reflecting a broader trend toward a potential complete abolition of capital punishment in the future.
Experts, like Nguyen Ngoc Chi, a former deputy head of the law department at Vietnam National University, anticipate that this reform could pave the way for the total eradication of the death penalty in the nation, as Vietnam continues to shift toward international human rights standards.
Nguyen Minh Duc, a lieutenant general in the police force, highlighted that the new law would aid Vietnam's ongoing anti-corruption campaign, as several countries have been hesitant to extradite suspects to Vietnam due to the previous capital punishment laws. In conjunction with this change, there are discussions in the legislature regarding a new extradition law to facilitate the repatriation of fugitives, a notable shift from past practices highlighted by cases such as the abduction of an asylum seeker from Germany who later faced embezzlement charges in Vietnam.
Though Vietnam has not disclosed the exact number of individuals currently on death row, past reports indicate that thousands have received capital sentences, with hundreds executed in recent years. The country has progressively reduced the number of offenses punishable by death from 44 in 1985 to just 10 today, including serious crimes like rioting and rape, reflecting a broader trend toward a potential complete abolition of capital punishment in the future.
Experts, like Nguyen Ngoc Chi, a former deputy head of the law department at Vietnam National University, anticipate that this reform could pave the way for the total eradication of the death penalty in the nation, as Vietnam continues to shift toward international human rights standards.
