~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

[Year 1997]
[Year 1998]
[Year 1999]
[Year 2000]
[Year 2001]

Vietnam to make fewer crimes punishable by death

HANOI - Vietnam's National Assembly has approved amendments to the country's penal code that are expected to cut by a third the number of crimes punishable by death.
Officials at the assembly said on Wednesday the changes had been approved after a week of discussion at Vietnam's legislative body, which meets twice a year. The amendments would take effect from next July, they added.

The death penalty, normally carried out by firing squad in communist-ruled Vietnam, had been expected to be reduced to some 30 crimes from the current 44 under the amendments. Assembly officials declined to give details. State media said delegates had approved the introduction of new offences dealing with computer hacking and environmental pollution, but gave no clear details.

Officials had previously said there would be fewer death sentences for white-collar crimes, which diplomats believe include offences such as embezzlement and graft. Courts have handed down a number of death sentences in recent years for graft and smuggling, which have become rampant in Vietnam despite the tough criminal code.

In Vietnam, a five-man firing squad executes convicted criminals, with a commanding officer completing the process with a single pistol shot to the head. Vietnam executed some 100 people in 1995, the last year for which complete statistics were available.

Reuters - December 15, 1999.