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

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New mom escapes death penalty in Vietnam

HANOI - A drug dealer who became pregnant in prison has escaped the death penalty in Vietnam but five others will face the firing squad, a judge said on Tuesday. The People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday handed down prison terms and death penalties for 21 members of one of the largest drug gangs ever brought to trial.

Five leaders of the gang were given the death penalty after they were convicted of trafficking more than 55 kilograms of heroin over a period of 10 years. Under Vietnamese law, trading more than 600 grams of heroin is punishable by death. Tra Thi Huong, 32, was convicted of drug trafficking but her sentence was commuted to life-in-prison because she had become pregnant and had given birth in prison, said chief judge Nguyen Duc Sau. “Although Huong trafficked up to nine-kilograms of heroin, we gave her a life sentence instead of a death sentence because she has a seven-month-old baby,” Sau said.

In Vietnam, a woman is pregnant or has a child under the age of three cannot face a firing squad. “Even if she trafficked thousands of kilograms of heroin, she would not be given a death sentence,” Sau added. How Huong got pregnant in prison has vexed authorities, who said that male and female inmates are kept separately. Some hinted that she might have impregnated herself using sperm smuggled from other inmates to avoid the death penalty. “The woman got pregnant while under police custody,” said Sau. “We will continue to investigate this issue to find out who is responsible for this.” In addition to handing down two life sentences, the court gave prison terms ranging between two and 30 years to the other 14 members of the drug trafficking ring.

In Hanoi, in a separate trial that also ended on Monday, the People’s Court sentenced two drug traffickers to death and gave four others life sentences for trading 21 kilograms of heroin. According to Vietnamese police, 15,384 people were arrested for drug trafficking in 2006. Authorities seized 244.7 kilograms of heroin, 117.4 kilograms of opium, 608 kilograms of marijuana and 36,000 methamphetamine pills. In an effort to crack down on the growing drug trade, Vietnam sentences dozens of drug traffickers to death every year.

Deutsche Presse Agentur - January 23, 2007.