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
MAY 16, 2020VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: THREE GET DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Three men in central Vietnam – one in Ha Tinh and two in Nghe An – were awarded death sentences on 15 May 2020 for drug trafficking.
MAY 13, 2020VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: CHINESE MAN GETS DEATH FOR KILLING VIETNAMESE MOTHER-IN-LAW
A Chinese man was sentenced to death on 12 May 2020 in the southern province of Tay Ninh for murdering his Vietnamese mother-in-law.
MAY 10, 2020VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: SUPREME PEOPLE’S COURT UPHOLDS VERDICT AND DEATH PENALTY FOR HỒ DUY HẢI
The Vietnamese Supreme People’s Court on 8 May 2020 rejected the request of the Supreme People’s Procuracy to re-investigate Hồ Duy Hải’s case.
- APRIL 11, 2020VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM TO SUSPEND LETHAL INJECTION EXECUTION AFTER THREE FAILED ATTEMPTS
Convicts will have their executions suspended temporarily if they are still alive after three doses of the lethal cocktail have been administered, a new decree says.
MARCH 14, 2020VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: SIX HEROIN TRAFFICKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Carrying 162 kg of drugs, six smugglers were awarded capital punishment in the northern Cao Bang Province on 9 March 2020.
MARCH 12, 2020VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: INDONESIAN WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING METH
A Tay Ninh Province court on 9 March 2020 sentenced an Indonesian woman to death for trafficking 6.7 kg of methamphetamine over the border from Cambodia.
FEBRUARY 27, 2020VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: DRUG TRAFFICKER SENTENCED TO DEATH
A 31-year-old Vietnamese woman on 25 February 2020 was sentenced to death for trafficking nearly 8 kg of methamphetamine, Vietnam News Agency reported.
FEBRUARY 24, 2020VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: DEATH PENALTY UPHELD FOR 10 DRUG TRAFFICKERS IN HANOI
Ten people involved in a drug ring had the death penalty upheld in a Hanoi court on 18 February 2020, according to Vietnam News.
- JANUARY 1, 2020VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Capital punishment remains for crimes
Capital punishment remains for crimes such as murder, armed robbery, drug trafficking, and sexual abuse of children.
DECEMBER 31, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: 6 MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPING, KILLING STUDENT
A court in north-western Vietnam on 29 December 2019 sentenced six men to death for raping and murdering 22-year-old student Cao My Duyen in a case that shocked the country earlier this year.
NOVEMBER 28, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: 11 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A Lang Son court sentenced 11 people to death on 27 November 2019 for trafficking 561 kg of heroin from Vietnam into China.
NOVEMBER 26, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING 100 KG OF DRUGS
Four men were sentenced to death by a Lang Son Province court on 19 November 2019 for trafficking over 100 kg of drugs.
NOVEMBER 14, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: 5 DRUG TRAFFICKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Five members of a transnational drug trafficking ring, including the 41-year-old Lao ringleader and four Vietnamese accomplices, were sentenced to death for smuggling 148 cakes of heroin, Vietnam News Agency reported on 14 November 2019.
OCTOBER 21, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: A MAN WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH DUE TO MURDERING HIS GIRLFRIEND, CHOPPING HER BODY INTO SMALL PARTS
A court in Ho Chi Minh City on 17 October 2019 handed down the death sentence to a man convicted of murdering his girlfriend, chopping her body into small parts, and storing them in a refrigerator in June 2018.
OCTOBER 10, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: THREE DRUG TRAFFICKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN SON LA
The People’s Court of the northwestern border province of Son La handed death sentences to three defendants and life sentences to two others for trafficking during a trial on 7 October 2019.
OCTOBER 9, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: 8 PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A court in Ho Chi Minh City has sentenced eight people to death for drug trafficking, a court official said on 8 October 2019.
SEPTEMBER 19, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: WOMAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR SMUGGLING 22 BRICKS OF HEROIN
A Vietnamese woman on 17 September 2019 was sentenced to death for smuggling 22 bricks of heroin weighing 7.73 kilograms from Laos into Vietnam.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: LAO MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR CARRYING HEROIN
A Laotian man was sentenced to death on 9 September 2019 for transporting 35 kilos of heroin into Vietnam last year, and his Vietnamese accomplice got life.
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: TWO GET DEATH, FOUR SENTENCED TO LIFE FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
The Hanoi People’s Court sentenced two people to death and gave life sentences to four others for trading 5.6 kilograms of drugs at a trial on 5 September 2019.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: LAOTIAN MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR METH SMUGGLING
The Quang Binh Provincial People's Court on 28 August 2019 gave a death sentence to a Laotian man for involving in the smuggling of over 300 kilos of meth.
AUGUST 1, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A HCMC court on 29 July 2019 sentenced a Vietnamese Australian drug ring leader and three of her accomplices to death.
- JULY 23, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: FORMER POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRADING DRUG
Two former police officers in Hai Phong were sentenced to death and 20 years in jail on 22 July 2019 for trading meth stolen from a drug bust.
JULY 5, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: TWO DRUG TRADERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
A central Vietnam court sentenced two men to death on 1 July 2019 for trading over 4.8 kilos of narcotics last year.
- JULY 4, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: 4 DRUG TRAFFICKERS GET DEATH SENTENCE
Four Vietnamese people on 3 July 2019 were sentenced to death and two others got jail terms of 18 years and 20 years respectively for trafficking over 3.4 kg of heroin.
JUNE 26, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN HANOI FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
The Hanoi People’s Court sentenced three Vietnamese to death on 25 June 2019 on drugs charges.
- JUNE 25, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: 2 HEROIN TRAFFICKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
A Vietnamese court on 19 June 2019 sentenced two local men to death for transporting and trading illicit drug, Vietnam News Agency reported.
JUNE 25, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: SENTENCED TO DEATH TWICE, MAN COMPENSATED AFTER 46 YEARS
A 82-year-old Vietnamese man has been compensated with VND6.7 billion ($287,500) for being wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death.
JUNE 17, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: THREE DRUG TRAFFICKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
A court in Lang Son Province in northern Vietnam on 13 June 2019 gave death sentences to two men and a woman for smuggling heroin and synthetic drugs.
JUNE 13, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: TWO MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A central Vietnam court has sentenced two men to death for trafficking meth and heroin from Laos to Vietnam.
- JUNE 3, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTY
LAO MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SMUGGLING 10KILOS OF DRUGS TO VIETNAM
A court in the central province of Nghe An sentenced a Lao man to death on 31 May 2019 for carrying 10.7 kilos of drugs into Vietnam.