Vietnamese courts handed down 208 death sentences and...

Vietnamese courts handed down 208 death sentences and 323 life sentences in 2000. The total number of cases tried reached 49,195 involving 72,960 defendants. The majority of crimes were those of drug trafficking, smuggling, public property misappropriation and murder. In 2000, courts nationwide handled 5,493 drug cases involving 7,956 defendants last year, of whom 65 were sentenced to death, 65 life in jail and 1,327 from 10 to 20 years imprisonment.