Vietnam
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Since 1997, possession or smuggling at least 100g or...
- News items in the archive
- 784
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Vietnam is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 784 news items on Vietnam, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
MARCH 16, 2026VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: 4 GET DEATH PENALTY IN HO CHI MINH CITY'S DRUG TRAFFICKING RING
The People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City on March 12, 2026 sentenced four defendants to death for their roles in a large-scale drug trafficking ring in the city.
NOVEMBER 27, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR POISONING 4 FAMILY MEMBERS WITH CYANIDE
A woman in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam was sentenced to death on November 27, 2025 for killing family members including two young children in a series of cyanide poisonings that shocked her community.
- AUGUST 24, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: KENYAN MARGARET NDUTA'S DEATH SENTENCE FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING COMMUTED TO LIFE
Margaret Nduta, the Kenyan woman condemned to death in Vietnam for drug trafficking, can now heave a sigh of relief after a Vietnamese court on July 31, 2025 commuted her death penalty to a life sentence.
JULY 9, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR MURDERING ENTIRE FAMILY
A man who murdered four members of his own family to free them from poverty has been sentenced to death by a Hanoi court on July 8, 2025.
JULY 3, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: 11 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
The Hanoi People's Court sentenced two suspended police officers to death for transporting drugs and "assisting and covering up" in the trafficking of nearly 140 kg of narcotics.
- JUNE 26, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM ENDS DEATH PENALTY FOR 8 CRIMES, MAY SPARE REAL ESTATE TYCOON
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, AP reported on June 26, 2025.
JUNE 24, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: DEATH PENALTIES HANDED TO THREE DRUG TRAFFICKERS
A court in southern Vietnam has sentenced three drug traffickers to death for smuggling and selling more than 50 kilos of heroin and synthetic drugs, state media reported on June 18, 2025.
MAY 29, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: KOREAN MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING FATHER WHO DEFENDED DAUGHTER-IN-LAW
A Korean man living in Vietnam has been sentenced to death for brutally murdering his father, who had flown in from South Korea to intervene in a family dispute and support his daughter-in-law.
- APRIL 28, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: 9 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SMUGGLING 91 KG OF DRUGS FROM CAMBODIA
Nine individuals received death sentences on April 26, 2025 for their roles in a major drug trafficking ring, which smuggled 91 kilograms of drugs hidden inside air purifiers and motorbikes from Cambodia into Vietnam.
- APRIL 14, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM TO REPLACE DEATH PENALTY WITH LIFE IMPRISONMENT WITHOUT PAROLE
Vietnam is considering a significant proposal in the draft amendment to the 2025 Penal Code by replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole, and the proposal was discussed at a thematic session on law-making of the government in Hanoi
MARCH 27, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: DOCTOR GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR DISMEMBERING MISTRESS
A 37-year-old married doctor who murdered and dismembered his mistress was sentenced to death by the People’s Court in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam on March 18, 2025.
MARCH 9, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: KENYAN WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING 2 KG OF DRUGS
A Kenyan woman in Ho Chi Minh City was sentenced to death for trafficking over 2 kg of drugs through Tan Son Nhat Airport.
DECEMBER 30, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: HCMC COURT SENTENCES 27 TO DEATH IN DRUG TRAFFICKING CASE
The HCMC People's Court sentenced a Vietnamese drug lord and her 26 subordinates to death on December 27, 2024 for drug trafficking
DECEMBER 16, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING 100 KG OF DRUGS
A Vietnamese-Canadian man, along with three accomplices, was sentenced to death on December 16, 2024 for trafficking over 100 kg of drugs into Vietnam.
DECEMBER 3, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: COURT UPHOLDS TYCOON’S DEATH SENTENCE FOR $12BN BANK FRAUD
A Vietnamese court on December 3, 2024 rejected a real estate tycoon’s appeal, upholding the death sentence handed down for the embezzlement of $12bn.
- NOVEMBER 25, 2024BelarusDEATH PENALTY
BELARUS OPPOSITION FEARS FOR FORMER UKRAINE VOLUNTEER EXTRADITED BY VIETNAM
Vietnam has extradited a prominent Belarusian opposition figure to Belarus where he faces a heavy prison sentence or possibly the death penalty, according to exiled opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko.
OCTOBER 2, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: EX-GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTANT SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR THEFT
A Hanoi court sentenced the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology’s former chief accountant to death after Nguyen Hoang was convicted of embezzling more than 152 billion dong ($6.2 million), the Vietnam government’s website reported on September
SEPTEMBER 24, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING, RAPING HANOI WOMAN
A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 21-year-old woman who worked as an apartment manager in Hanoi.
JUNE 6, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: DEATH SENTENCE FOR MAN WHO KILLED PARENTS WHILE HIGH ON DRUGS
A court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced a man to death on June 4, 2024 for murdering both of his parents during a drug-induced hallucination.
- APRIL 11, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM SENTENCES REAL ESTATE TYCOON TRUONG MY LAN TO DEATH IN ITS LARGEST-EVER FRAUD CASE
Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced on April 11, 2024 to death by a court in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam in the country’s largest financial fraud case ever.
MARCH 6, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRADING DRUGS, EYEING 50% PROFIT
A court in Nghe An Province has sentenced a man to death and a woman accomplice to 20 years in prison for selling 4.3 kg of drugs.
FEBRUARY 12, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: PRESIDENT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCES TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR FIVE INMATES
The President of Vietnam Vo Van Thuong on February 6, 2024 signed a decision to commute the death penalty to life in prison for five convicts
JANUARY 23, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: COURT SENTENCES 9 PEOPLE TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A court in Vietnam on January 22, 2024 sentenced nine people to death after being convicted of involvement in one of the country's largest drug trafficking cases in months, state media reported.
DECEMBER 29, 2023VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: MAN GETS DEATH FOR BANK CAPER MURDER
A man who unsuccessfully tried to rob a bank in Da Nang was sentenced to death on December 28, 2023 for killing a security guard who chased him from the crime scene.
- DECEMBER 27, 2023VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: PRESIDENT REDUCES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE FOR 18 PRISONERS
President Vo Van Thuong signed a decision on December 27, 2023 to reduce death penalties to life imprisonment for 18 prisoners who filed petitions for commuted sentences.
NOVEMBER 13, 2023VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: 18 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING, INCLUDING FORMER KOREAN POLICEMAN
A former South Korean police officer and 17 other people in Ho Chi Minh City were sentenced to death on November 11, 2023 for trafficking over 216 kg of drugs.
OCTOBER 2, 2023VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: 4 GET DEATH IN HCMC FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Four people were sentenced to death in HCMC on September 28, 2023 for transporting 12 kg of drugs from Cambodia to Vietnam for sale.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2023VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: MAN EXECUTED DESPITE DIPLOMATIC PLEAS FOR MERCY
Death row prisoner Le Van Manh was executed on the morning of September 22, 2023, lawyer Le Van Luan posted on Facebook, in a case with evidence which lawyers said was not clear enough to convict.
AUGUST 30, 2023VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: PRESIDENT REDUCES DEATH PENALTIES TO LIFE SENTENCES FOR 11 PRISONERS
President Vo Van Thuong on August 30, 2023 decided to reduce death penalties to life sentences for 11 prisoners.
- JUNE 25, 2023VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: THREE TAIWANESE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Three Taiwanese were sentenced to death in Ho Chi Minh City on June 22, 2023 for trafficking some 480 kg of drugs.