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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Vietnam: Death penalty upheld for robber who chopped scooter driver's arm

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The Supreme People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday upheld the death penalty for a young man who chopped off the lower part of a woman's arm to steal her Honda SH scooter in late 2012.

The youth, 21-year-old Ho Duy Truc, was sentenced to death by the HCMC People's Court in December 2013 on charges of plundering property.

7 accomplices of Truc got jail terms lasting from 6 months to 20 years.

According to the indictment, Truc was the leader of an 8-member gang that committed 15 robberies in HCMC, using machetes to rob people of their vehicles and belongings, within the latter half of 2012.

Truc and his 3 accessories were arrested on November 24, 2012 after they attempted to rob 30-year-old Nguyen Thi Thuy of her Honda SH scooter when she was driving over the Phu My Bridge in HCMC's District 2.

Truc used a machete to slash Thuy's right elbow twice, leaving the woman seriously wounded, with 2 parts of her arm clinging together thanks to a piece of skin.

As Thuy screamed for help, passers-by rushed in, making Truc and his accomplices flee the scene and leave her vehicle behind.

After being sentenced to death for such "dangerous and inhumane acts," as stated by the jury at the 1st instance trial, Truc made an appeal for a slighter sentence.

At yesterday's appeal hearing, Truc begged the jury to give him a commutation but the Supreme People's Court rejected his plea, saying that he had perpetrated an extreme brutal act and therefore should be given the capital punishment.

Truc's victim, Thuy, was not present at the trial but she had sent a petition to the court, asking for his commutation, but the judge also turned it down.

Source: Tuoi Tre News, March 25, 2014
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