Vietnam is set to abolish the death penalty for eight criminal offenses starting next month, as announced by the National Assembly on Wednesday. This significant amendment to the Criminal Code includes crimes such as embezzlement, vandalizing state property, manufacturing fake medicine, and activities aimed at overthrowing the government. The maximum penalty for these offenses will now be life imprisonment.
One high-profile case affected by this change is that of Truong My Lan, a real estate tycoon and chairwoman of the Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group. She was previously sentenced to death for embezzlement in a $12 billion fraud case. Following the amendment, her sentence will automatically be commuted to life imprisonment, along with others sentenced to death for these crimes prior to the enforcement of the new law.
Despite this significant reform, ten offenses will still remain punishable by death, including murder, treason, terrorism, sexual abuse of children, and drug trafficking. The legality of capital punishment in Vietnam is a closely guarded state secret, and details regarding the number of people currently on death row remain undisclosed. Since the abolition of firing squads in 2011, lethal injection has been the sole method of execution in the country.
This move reflects Vietnam’s ongoing legal reforms and changing attitudes toward capital punishment, aligning with broader global trends toward reducing the use of the death penalty in justice systems.
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