'Bitter' tears of a wife who followed her husband to court many times

Those are the confessions of Ms. Le Thi V. (born in 1975), residing in Yen Thanh town (Yen Thanh district) - a wife whose husband has been in and out of prison 5 times.
She has been married for 14 years now, but her family’s property is only a small house of only 17 square meters. As a tailor, she only hopes to earn enough money to educate her two children. Because she knows that she cannot rely on her husband who is often in prison.

Her husband, Phan Doan Binh, is 6 years younger than his wife. At the age of 22, Binh was sentenced to 6 months in prison by the People's Court of Yen Thanh district for theft. A year later, Binh continued to receive a 12-month prison sentence for the same crime. Not long after getting married, Binh continued to "go to jail" because of his "two-finger" disability. In 2007, Binh was sentenced to 30 months in prison for theft. 4 years later, Binh continued to appear in court for the same crime.

For drug trafficking, Phan Doan Binh was sentenced to life in prison. His wife attended the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

She confided that she did not know her husband had been in prison. After getting married and learning about his past, she was a bit worried, but then she encouraged herself that he would change after having a wife and children.

However, Binh still could not give up the bad habit that made Ms. V. always feel ashamed and self-conscious in front of the neighbors, feeling that everyone was wary and wary of her. Many times she advised her husband to change for the sake of his wife and children, but Binh almost did not accept her advice.

Because her husband was constantly in prison, she had to take care of all the household chores. Throughout their many years together, her only wish was for her husband to cultivate his character.
In 2016, Ms. V. continued to receive bad news when her husband was arrested for drug-related crimes. This time, Phan Doan Binh was sentenced by the People's Court of Do Luong district to 20 months in prison for illegal possession of narcotics.
The day Binh was reunited with his family, she poured out her heart and soul to advise her husband, "If not for yourself, then for the children, you should change your lifestyle and work hard."

After much bitterness, she accepted everything, only hoping that he would reform for the sake of the children. Because, every time she saw her children sad because of being teased by their friends, she felt guilty. However, things went back to the way they were, Phan Doan Binh was arrested again for drug trafficking.

Attending her husband’s trial at the end of June, Ms. V. went alone without her children. She said she did not want her children to see their father in the courtroom.

She had accompanied her husband to court many times, but perhaps this was the first time she attended as a person with obligations related to the case, when Binh took her motorbike to commit an illegal act.

Ms. V. quietly attended her husband's trial. Photo: Tran Vu

At court, Binh honestly confessed his crime. Binh said that at around 5:00 p.m. on January 26, 2019, he hired a man to drive a taxi to Muong Xen town (Ky Son district). Upon arriving, Binh called Man to pick him up (Man was a fellow inmate while serving a criminal sentence at Prison No. 3 - Ministry of Public Security). After that, the two walked into the forest for about 40 minutes and met the man Binh had met before. After negotiating, Binh decided to buy 1 kg of crystal meth for 100 million VND.

At about 1 a.m. on January 27, 2019, Binh got into his car and left, leaving a plastic bag containing drugs under the floor of the passenger seat where he was sitting. While the car was moving to Chau Khe commune (Con Cuong district), a working group from the Nghe An Provincial Traffic Police Department stopped the car for inspection. Afraid of being discovered, Binh quickly opened the car door and ran away but was detained. When checking the position where Binh was sitting, the authorities discovered a package of drugs weighing 989 grams of Methamphetamine.

Witnessing Binh’s words, the miserable wife burst into tears. Pained by the sentence, she was even more saddened by her husband’s lack of remorse.
Phan Doan Binh was quickly escorted out of the courtroom, and his wife didn't even bother to run after him. Alone in the courtroom, she just sat there with tears streaming down her face, sobs escaping her...
Carrying great sadness, she quietly left the court to catch a bus back to her hometown to continue her lonely days of working and raising her children.