Nguyen Van Hiep, an abattoir worker, was sentenced...

Nguyen Van Hiep, an abattoir worker, was sentenced to death by the Ben Tre People's Court in Vietnam for killing a man who tried to break up a drunken argument he was having with a friend while playing billiards. It was alleged that after consuming a large amount of potent rice wine, Hiep went to his local billiards hall in the southern province of Ben Tre on February 1, 2004 to play against his friend, Nguyen Van Phong. The pair became embroiled in an argument when Hiep, aged around 30, demanded Phong return 25,000 dong (1.5 dollars) that he owed him. Another man, To Tan Trung, tried to calm them down, but Hiep, angered by his intervention, pulled out a knife and stabbed him repeatedly in the stomach.