Vietnam amends criminal code to abolish death penalty for eight offenses News
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Vietnam amends criminal code to abolish death penalty for eight offenses

Vietnam’s 15th National Assembly on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to abolish the death penalty for eight categories of criminal offenses: embezzlement, bribery, counterfeiting medicines, espionage, drug trafficking, vandalism of state property, sabotage, and acts aimed at overthrowing the government.

Out of the 439 delegates present, 429 voted in favor, representing nearly 90 percent of the legislature.

The revised Criminal Code now imposes a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for these offenses. Under transitional provisions, all death sentences handed down before July 1 for these crimes will be automatically commuted to life terms.

Minister of Public Security, Lương Tam Quang, cited inequality and structural inconsistency as considerations behind the reform. He stated: “The current structure of capital punishment was problematic and, in some cases, misaligned with evolving socio-economic conditions 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 death in 2024 for orchestrating a $12 billion embezzlement scheme involving fraudulent loans from Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank. Her sentence will be converted to life imprisonment, with possible further reduction based on restitution of misappropriated funds.

The amendments align with a global shift away from capital punishment. As of 2025, over 70 percent of countries have abolished the death penalty.

Amnesty International death penalty advisor Chiara Sangiorgio welcomed Vietnam’s amendments as a “positive step” but cautioned that they fall short of broader reform. She raised concerns about due process in Vietnam’s capital punishment cases and noted that the government’s long-standing secrecy surrounding executions makes it difficult to evaluate the practical effect of the new law.

While the reform marks a narrowing of capital punishment’s scope, Vietnam retains the death penalty for 19 offenses, including murder, terrorism, treason, and child rape. Lethal injection remains the only authorized method since the abolition of the firing squad in 2011.

Additionally, Vietnam is known for keeping its executions classified as state secrets. According to a report by Amnesty International, it was one of the biggest executioners in Southeast Asia as of 2024. Internal prosecutorial reports also indicate that over 2,000 people have been sentenced to death in the last decade, and over 400 prisoners executed.

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