Vietnam ends death penalty for 8 crimes, may spare real estate tycoon

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam has lifted the death penalty for eight crimes in legal reforms that may spare the life of a real estate tycoon imprisoned in the country’s largest financial fraud case.

The legal reforms in Vietnam ended the death penalty for eight crimes, including trying to overthrow the government, damaging state infrastructure, making and selling fake medicine, starting wars, spying, drug trafficking, embezzlement, and taking bribes.

Vietnamese lawmakers passed the reforms on Wednesday, according to state media.

Truong My Lan, sentenced to death for her involvement in Vietnam’s largest financial fraud case, will be eligible to have her sentence reduced after the reforms, her lawyer said Thursday.

The 67-year-old chair of the real estate company Van Thinh Phat who was facing execution for her involvement in fraud amounting to $12.5 billion — nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP — will now be “eligible for the exemption for the death penalty” according to the new rules, her lawyer Phan Minh Hoang told The Associated Press.

“We are still waiting for the official instructions of implementing the law amendment for next steps in her case,” Hoang said.

The new rules also say that anyone already sentenced to death for these crimes but not yet executed by July 1 will have their sentence changed to life in prison after a final decision by Vietnam’s highest court.

After the legal changes, the maximum punishment for Lan’s crimes will be life imprisonment without parole. Hoang said that they were continuing to work on repaying the damages to get her sentence further reduced.

The law change will likely impact other ongoing trials such as the one that started earlier this week involving the real estate and infrastructure development company Phuc Son Group, whose chairman Nguyen Van Hau is accused of paying over $5 million in bribes to win contracts for major infrastructure projects across three provinces.

Following the change, Vietnam now has the death penalty for 10 crimes like murder, sexual abuse of children, treason and terrorism.