Conscientious and responsible

(Baonghean) - On the afternoon of December 5, at a press conference about the Long An Provincial People's Court's decision to temporarily suspend the execution of the death sentence against prisoner Ho Duy Hai right before the execution, in front of a large number of reporters, the Deputy Chief Justice of the Long An Provincial People's Court affirmed: "With the conscience of a judge, even 0.01% of the basis will be considered. If new details are discovered, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuracy will consider everything to judge the right person, the right crime, and not let there be injustice."

That statement by the Deputy Chief Justice of the Long An Provincial People's Court made everyone present in the press conference room and those who heard it afterwards very grateful, welcoming and regretful. Regretful because, if everyone acted with conscience and professional responsibility "even considering 0.01% of the basis", then surely the number of wrongful convictions would have decreased significantly. That is, there would not be people like Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chan who had to suffer unjust imprisonment for 10 years for the crime of "heaven cannot tolerate, earth cannot forgive": murder.And the 7 young men in Tran De district, Soc Trang province, did not have to spend days "lying on thorns and tasting bile" in prison unjustly with the murder charge that the "authorities" put on their necks.

Looking at other areas more broadly, if the "public servants" also strive to work with the same spirit and attitude as the Deputy Chief Justice of the Long An Provincial People's Court, there will be fewer incidents and things in life that we often summarize in the phrase "frustrating, prominent". It must be seen that the fact that the death row inmate Ho Duy Hai's sentence was postponed right before the "guillotine" has surprised and shocked many people, and public opinion has been "storming" for the whole week. But this "storm" was with a joyful voice, not with sorrow and indignation like in some recent cases of terrible wrongful convictions. Nor is it joy at the fact that a person narrowly escaped death. Because this is not certain, there is nothing to prove and no responsible agency has confirmed that this death row inmate was wrongly convicted. And if after review, it is found that there is no wrongful conviction, the death sentence must still be carried out as the court declared. The joy of society here is to look at the conscience and responsibility of those who "hold the scales and measure" in the legal field.

Although several years have passed and the deadline has come, but through the appeals for help from the people who are relatives of the death row inmate and through some proposals and recommendations on some problematic and unusual points, it was decided to postpone the execution for a more careful and accurate review. Human life is important, postponing for a while to study and review it carefully and in the right order is extremely necessary. If it is found that there is really no injustice, then continuing to carry out the execution, forcing the perpetrator to pay the price before the law is still timely. But if it is really a injustice, then… Public opinion is enthusiastic, excited and welcomes this timely decision full of humanity, responsibility and professional conscience.

Working with conscience and responsibility - That is what society always needs, not only for the staff in public agencies, but also for every Vietnamese citizen at any time to live and work with conscience and responsibility.

Duy Huong