Vietnam amends criminal code to abolish death penalty for eight offenses

Vietnam’s fifteenth Nationwide Meeting on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to abolish the dying penalty for eight classes of felony offenses: embezzlement, bribery, counterfeiting medicines, espionage, drug trafficking, vandalism of state property, sabotage, and acts geared toward overthrowing the federal government.

Out of the 439 delegates current, 429 voted in favor, representing practically 90 p.c of the legislature.

The revised Prison Code now imposes a most sentence of life imprisonment for these offenses. Beneath transitional provisions, all dying sentences handed down earlier than July 1, 2025, for these crimes will likely be robotically commuted to life phrases.

Minister of Public Safety, Lương Tam Quang, cited inequality and structural inconsistency as driving forces behind the reforms. He said, “[T]he present construction of capital punishment was problematic and, in some instances, misaligned with evolving socio-economic circumstances and the realities of crime prevention.”

The revision notably spares Trương Mỹ Lan, a former chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group, who was sentenced to dying in 2024 for orchestrating a $12 billion embezzlement scheme involving fraudulent loans from Saigon Joint Inventory Business Financial institution. Her sentence will likely be transformed to life imprisonment, with attainable additional discount based mostly on restitution of misappropriated funds.

The amendments align with a world shift away from capital punishment. As of 2025, over 70 p.c of nations have abolished the dying penalty.

Amnesty Worldwide dying penalty advisor Chiara Sangiorgio welcomed Vietnam’s amendments as a “optimistic step” however cautioned that they fall wanting broader reform. She raised issues about due course of in Vietnam’s capital punishment instances and famous that the federal government’s long-standing secrecy surrounding executions makes it tough to guage the sensible impact of the brand new legislation.

Whereas the reform marks a narrowing of capital punishment’s scope, Vietnam retains the dying penalty for 19 offenses, together with homicide, terrorism, treason, and youngster rape. Deadly injection stays the one approved methodology for the reason that abolition of the firing squad in 2011.

Moreover, Vietnam is thought for protecting its executions categorized as state secrets and techniques. Based on a report by Amnesty Worldwide, it was one of many greatest executioners in Southeast Asia as of 2024. Inside prosecutorial stories additionally point out that over 2,000 folks have been sentenced to dying within the final decade, and over 400 prisoners executed.