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| Drug trafficker Nguyễn Thị Huệ escapes death penalty after paying a female prisoner to bring her a plastic bag of semen and a syringe so that she could become pregnant. — Photo dantri.com.vn |
Viet Nam News
HÀ NỘI — An DNA test result released yesterday confirmed that a male prisoner sold sperm to drug smuggler Nguyễn Thị Huệ awaiting execution under the death penalty in Quảng Ninh Province.
Huệ, 42, of northern Lạng Sơn Province was arrested in 2012 for drug trafficking and sentenced to death in 2014.
In early February 2016, she was found to be some four or five months pregnant.
Investigation revealed that Huệ offered a male prisoner named Nguyễn Tuấn Hưng, 27, who was in charge of cooking, VNĐ50 million ($2,300) to get her pregnant.
Under Việt Nam’s Penal Code, the death penalty can be reduced to a life sentence for prisoners who are pregnant or have a child under 36 months.
In August 2015, Hưng sought ways to give Huệ his sperm in plastic bags twice. Huệ injected the sperm in her womb and became pregnant.
A birth certificate was granted by Đồng Đăng Town People’s Committee in Cao Lộc District, Lạng Sơn Province, once Huệ’s baby was born. The certificate does not mention the name of the child’s father.
Meanwhile, the DNA test result revealed that Hưng is the baby’s natural father.
Quảng Ninh Police is also investigating superintendents in charge of Huệ’s case.
Ten years ago, a similar incident occurred with another prisoner on death row, Nguyễn Thị Oanh, at a prison in northern Hòa Bình Province.
Oanh was assisted by two jailers who opened her detention room five times allowing a male prisoner to have sex with her. The two jailers were imprisoned for 42-60 months. — VNS
