VIETNAM. DEATH PENALTY UPHELD FOR NAM CAM'S RIGHT HAND MAN

the People’s Supreme Court of Appeal in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, confirmed the death sentence for Nguyen Van Tho, a close associate of crime boss Nam Cam who was executed in 2004 for murder and bribery. Tho, known as “Captain Tho”, is a nephew of Nam Cam and was considered the Mafioso’s ‘right hand man’. Tho was arrested in August 2004 after two years of hiding. He was tried for arranging the murder of a policeman, Phan Le Son, and Son’s friend, Ho Phuoc Hung, in January 2000. The city lower court had sentenced Tho to three years in imprisonment for gambling, 20 years for bribery, and death for murder in late October 2005. Tho later appealed against the murder charge, saying that he was not the instigator. However, the appeal court dismissed Tho’s appeal, affirming it had evidence to prove that Tho himself directed the killing of Son and Hung.