The pain of a mother who constantly follows her child to court and almost gets into trouble with the law

Nghe An Provincial People's Court has just brought defendant Trinh Van Linh (born 1992), residing in Hung Nhan commune, Hung Nguyen district, to trial for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".

Linh came to court wearing a short T-shirt that revealed his tattooed arms and a fierce-looking crew cut. The defendant appeared calm until he saw his mother and brother arrive at court.

Ms. Nguyen Thi D. and Mr. Trinh Xuan Q. came to court not as relatives of the defendant but were summoned to court as other participants in the proceedings.

Defendant Trinh Van Linh in court. Photo: Tran Vu

Because about 5 months ago, the mother and daughter were in a panic when the police discovered drugs in Linh's belongings sent to the Nghe An Provincial Police Detention Center. But later they were cleared of the charges when they proved they had nothing to do with the drugs.

Speaking of Linh, the third of four children of Mrs. D and her husband, after finishing 11th grade, Linh decided to drop out and do many different jobs.

A playboy, this young man could not overcome the traps of society. At the age of 20, Trinh Van Linh officially entered the prison gate with an 8-year sentence for robbery.

It was a big shock to the family and Mrs. D. Although she loved her son, the hard-working mother had no choice but to encourage her son to reform well so that his sentence could be reduced soon.

In January 2019, Linh was released from prison and reintegrated into the community. Feeling sorry for his younger brother who had made a mistake and had no job, the older brother took Linh to work with him at a beer bar in Vinh City.

The job did not earn much money overnight, but the older brother wanted Linh to learn to value money and live a better life. However, the younger sister quickly let her brother down.

Just over 3 months after being released from prison, Linh relapsed into her old ways. On April 10, 2019, Linh went to Pho Chau town, Huong Son district (Ha Tinh) to meet a friend named Tran Huu Duy and said: "I just got out of prison and have no money to spend. I'm in trouble and need your help."

Duy said, “I don’t have any money either. Take 6 packs of heroin and sell them for money.” A moment later, a young man brought a gray sock containing 6 packs of heroin and placed it under the beer cooler where Duy and Linh were sitting. Linh put the drugs in her underwear and took a taxi home. When she arrived in Vinh City, Linh hid the drugs on the side of the road and went home.

That same afternoon, a man from Nghi Loc district contacted Linh to buy 5 packages of heroin for 55 million VND. Linh went to the place where the drugs were hidden, took the "goods" and brought them to her brother's beer house. There, Linh took 1 package of heroin and hid it in his jacket, and sold the remaining 5 packages to customers. However, while Linh was waiting for customers to come buy, Nghi Loc district police caught her red-handed, confiscating 5 packages of drugs weighing 99.88 grams.

The defendant's mother and brother were sad at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

On May 15, Linh's mother and brother went to Nghe An Provincial Police Detention Center to visit and send Linh something, but the authorities discovered a package of drugs weighing 19,700 grams in his jacket pocket. Linh admitted that it was the package of drugs he had previously hidden. Thus, the total amount of drugs that Trinh Van Linh must be responsible for before the law is 119.58 grams.

In court, Linh said that after being given free drugs by a friend, greed arose so Linh took some to sell.

In the presence of his relatives, the judge asked: "You just got out of prison, why did you reoffend?" Linh mumbled: "You made a mistake." "Your brother gave you a job, your family helped you, but you did that. Don't you feel sorry for them?", the court asked. To this question, Linh answered "yes" and bowed her head.

Hearing her son's testimony, Mrs. D. was heartbroken. She turned her face to look out into the hallway of the courtroom, quickly wiping away two streams of tears. Speaking at the trial, she said she did not know that drugs were hidden in the shirt sent to Linh's detention center, so when the police discovered it, she panicked. Fortunately, everything was later cleared up by the authorities.

The court's deliberations that day were faster than usual, leaving the mother unable to calm down from her son's last, rather emotional words before hearing the 20-year prison sentence for her rebellious, unruly son. She was stunned, then silently left the courtroom unconsciously.

Seven years ago, she once “sent” her son to prison. Now, not long after mother and son were reunited, she once again “sent” her son to a place no one wanted. However, this time the day of mother and son’s reunion is still far away as Trinh Van Linh has to serve a 20-year prison sentence for “illegally buying and selling drugs”.