Heartbreaking image of 3 children waiting for their father in court

Construction contractor"indigo"because of drugs

On a day in mid-September at the People's Court of Nghe An province, from early morning, many people were present at the court yard. They were the wife, children, and relatives of the defendant Tran Van Hoa (41 years old), residing in Anh Son town, Anh Son district - who was brought to trial for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking". Everyone's face showed signs of fatigue after a long car trip. In that group of people were 3 children aged 15, 11, and 5, who were the children of the defendant Hoa. Today, the three brothers decided to skip school and follow their mother to the court to see their father.

Not old enough to sit in court, the three brothers had to look after each other in the hallway. While the youngest brother played innocently, the two older brothers sobbed, especially when they heard their father's answers from inside the courtroom. Seeing this, a relative quickly walked over and patted the two brothers on the shoulder to encourage them.

With red eyes, this person regretted: “Since childhood, my siblings have lacked the love of their parents when Hoa and his wife often went to Laos to do business. We thought that the couple would work hard and go abroad for a while so that when the economy was better, their parents could reunite with their children. But now, the family is broken like this…”

Inside the courtroom, Hoa recounted his crime as follows: He worked in construction in Laos for nearly ten years. At first, his income was quite stable, thanks to that job, he had enough money to take care of his wife and children. But since Hoa started to work on the sidelines of transporting construction materials from Vietnam to Laos for sale, he has been losing more and more money. Debt and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic have further depressed the economy.

During the 2023 Lunar New Year, Hoa decided to stay in Laos instead of returning home to celebrate the New Year. During this time, Hoa met Vu (a Laotian) who suggested that he had drugs to sell. About a month later, Hoa contacted and discussed selling drugs with two acquaintances in society, Son and Hoc.

On February 9, 2023, Hoa received a phone call from Son ordering 10 packages of heroin, agreeing on a price of 70 million VND. Meanwhile, Hoc ordered 5 packages of heroin, priced at 15 million VND. To have money to buy drugs, Hoa returned to Vietnam and asked the two customers to transfer money in advance.

On February 13, after the two customers transferred 25 million VND in advance, Hoa went to Laos to buy 15 packages of drugs (worth more than 25 million VND). Defendant Hoa said that he did not bring the drugs back to Vietnam immediately because he was afraid of being discovered by the police. Therefore, Hoa asked the seller to deliver the "goods" to an area near a gas station in Huong Son district (Ha Tinh).

After receiving the drugs, on the evening of February 14, Tran Van Hoa delivered the drugs to two customers. After successfully trading 5 packages of opium in Cau Ro (Thanh Chuong district), Hoa went to a cornfield in Da Son commune, Do Luong district to deliver the "goods" to the remaining customer and was caught red-handed by the police. The investigation agency determined that Hoa must bear criminal responsibility for more than 212 grams of drugs.

Defendant Hoa expressed his sincere and remorseful attitude for his crime. Hoa presented his difficult circumstances and young children to ask the court to consider a lighter sentence.

When mentioning his children, the defendant was filled with tears. Hoa explained that since being detained, every time he thought of his three children, he cried. The young father admitted that he had not fulfilled his duties as a father in the family...

Heartbroken children crying out their father's name

The trial lasted until late afternoon, but the three children stood huddled by the door, watching their father from afar. When the court began deliberations, the three brothers timidly walked inside where their father was sitting. Seeing the children crying, Hoa asked the police officer for permission to hug his children after a long time apart. With his hands cuffed, Hoa hugged each child tightly, sobbing loudly. The young father's apologies and instructions were also interrupted by sobs.

Talking to his relatives, Hoa could not stop regretting his mistakes. It was also with these hands that many years ago, Hoa worked, earned money to take care of his family, and developed the economy. But it was also with these hands that the construction contractor got involved because of greed and drugs.

In the brief moments of reunion with his wife, Hoa always regretted the happy times of the family. There was a time when his wife decided to take her young child to Laos to help her husband prepare meals for the workers. She decided to leave her two older children with relatives to take care of them, hoping to help Hoa to work with peace of mind.

But then, she herself did not expect that the husband she had always trusted with all her heart would fall into the path of crime. And now the whole family had to meet in a place no one wanted. Even more heartbreaking was when she heard the sentence that the jury sentenced her husband to 20 years in prison.

The sentence brought tears to the young father’s eyes. If only, before getting his hands dirty, Hoa had thought of his hard-working wife and children, the outcome would not have been so tragic. Hopefully, the children’s words of encouragement and innocent messages of “I miss you, Dad” will motivate Hoa to reform well and soon find a new path.