Vietnam to remove death penalty for embezzlement
HANOI—Vietnam will remove the death penalty for eight offenses from next month, including embezzlement and activities aimed at overthrowing the government, parliament said on 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 on 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, official Vietnam News Agency said.
The maximum sentence for these crimes will now be life imprisonment, the report said.
Commutation
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 didn’t immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
