Vietnam to remove death penalty for embezzlement, sparing tycoon’s life

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam will remove the death penalty for eight offenses starting next month, including embezzlement and activities aimed at overthrowing the government, parliament said Wednesday, sparing the life of a tycoon in a $12 billion fraud case.

The National Assembly, the country’s lawmaking body, unanimously ratified the amendment to the Criminal Code earlier Wednesday to abolish the death penalty for the crimes, it said in a statement.

Other crimes that will no longer lead to the death penalty include vandalizing state property, manufacturing fake medicine, jeopardizing peace, triggering invasive wars, espionage and carrying drugs, the official Vietnam News Agency said.

The maximum sentence for these crimes will now be life imprisonment, the report said.

Those who were sentenced to death for these offenses before July 1 but have not yet been executed will have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment, the report added.

These will include real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, the chairwoman of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, who was sentenced to death last year on embezzlement charges.

Lan’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

“According to the amendment of the Criminal Code, her sentence will automatically be reduced to life imprisonment,” lawyer Ngo Anh Tuan, who is not part of Lan’s defense team, told Reuters.

Ten offenses will remain subject to capital punishment in Vietnam, including murder, treason, terrorism and the sexual abuse of children, according to the report. Drug trafficking will also remain a capital offense.

Capital punishment data is a state secret in Vietnam and it is not known how many people are currently on death row in the country. Lethal injection is the only method of execution after firing squads were abolished in 2011.