The road to rehabilitation of a death row inmate who spent 11 years in solitary confinement

(Baonghean.vn)- Last June 2016, Dang Van The - the prisoner of the century, a death row inmate who had been in solitary confinement for 11 years awaiting execution was officially released. Having been sentenced to death, The returned to the joy of his friends and relatives.

Prisoner of the Century

Dang Van The (born in 1975), is the youngest of six siblings in My Son commune, Do Luong district. His parents are farmers, working on the fields all year round to make a living. Dang Van The dropped out of school after 4th grade and worked as a bus boy on the Vinh - Muong Xen route, and that is where The's downfall began.

At the age of 20, on those back and forth trips, The met the most gentle and beautiful girl in Con Cuong district town. The two fell in love and lived together as husband and wife but without a marriage certificate. After only 40 days of their love life, The was caught up in the law.

That was in August 1997, listening to his friend Nguyen Tat Dung, The hired to carry 20kg of opium from Tuong Duong district to Vinh city, when he arrived at Do Luong district he was caught red-handed.

Dang Van The's last days at Prison No. 6.

On June 23, 1998, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a trial and sentenced The and Dung to death for "Illegally transporting narcotics". Nguyen Tat Dung was taken to execution shortly after, and because The cooperated and confessed honestly, the Nghe An Provincial Police Department issued a document requesting a postponement of the execution of the sentence to continue the investigation.

No one expected that the postponement would bring The back from the brink of death to a life of freedom because The's waiting days in solitary confinement had lasted for 11 years, and was a rare case in the history of legal proceedings. He was a death row inmate who had been through 3 generations of wardens and 10 prison officers. During all that time in solitary confinement, Dang Van The's only pleasure was writing a diary, writing poetry and taking care of stray cats.

On June 23, 2009, for the second time in his life, Dang Van The was officially born, when the President pardoned death row inmate Dang Van The from death row to life imprisonment. Afterwards, The was transferred to Prison No. 6 to serve his sentence.

The souvenirs The brought back from prison

During nearly 7 years of serving his sentence at Prison No. 6, Dang Van The was a prisoner who received special attention from the Board of Supervisors and prison officers. Not only did he reform well, but he also participated as a leader in movement activities, especially competitions for prisoners. Therefore, it is not surprising that every year his name was on the list of reduced sentences.

Smile of return

With those efforts to improve, on June 15, 2016, prisoner Dang Van The received a decision to reduce his sentence and release him early. After 19 years of prison, including 11 years in solitary confinement, The returned to his family, in the open arms of love of his elderly parents and the community.

Mr. Dang Van Suu (85 years old), The's father, could not hide his tears of emotion: "When we received the decision to release our son from prison, we thought it was just a dream, we could not believe it was true. From early morning, the two of them, along with his brothers and relatives, hired a 16-seat car to go to the prison to pick up our son."

Mr. Dang Van Suu, Dang Van The's father, shared his feelings on the day he welcomed his son home.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thao (75 years old), The's mother, slowly turned over each line of the diary and the unfinished handwritten autobiography of Dang Van The, sharing, "Those are the priceless souvenirs that her son brought home from prison, and also the companion luggage to motivate her to overcome the days in prison. Mrs. Thao is probably the type of woman who, until the end of her life, still cannot stop shedding tears for her children.

The couple worked as farmers, working hard all year round, giving birth to 6 children but only kept 5. Of the 3 sons, one was also in trouble with the law, died because of drugs, and the family's only hope, the youngest brother Dang Van The, also fell into sin. She said that during the days when the two brothers were in prison, every month the couple scraped together money, cycled more than 60 kilometers to the city to visit their son in solitary confinement.

Mrs. Thao, The's mother, with the souvenirs her son brought back from prison.

Sharing with us, Dang Van The said that more than a month after being released, the thing he is most satisfied with is that his parents are still healthy. Since leaving the camp, The has not had a good night's sleep, his mind is always filled with the thought of what to do to earn money to take care of his parents.

“At first, I planned to go to Hoa Binh town (Tuong Duong district) to work for hire, but my parents rejected it, thinking that was where I started to fall, and also a place with many temptations, afraid that I would not have enough courage to overcome them.

Mr. Dang Van The

For nearly a month now, a friend who works in passenger transport on the Nghe An - Hanoi route, knowing that I was free, asked me to be a bus assistant and I decided to choose this job. First of all, I will work for a salary, later when I have an ID card and capital, I will go back to study for a driver's license so that I can be independent in my work", Dang Van The confidently shared about his current job.

Talking about his personal life, Dang Van The honestly said that he has not thought about it yet, because at this time he wants to spend all his time taking care of his parents.

His ex-wife, who was not married, went to prison the day he got in trouble with the law and filed for divorce. She is currently single with her 13-year-old daughter. But he said that their feelings for each other ended after that day of separation...

Ha Thu