The torment of a husband in prison while his wife is fighting a serious illness

The first instance criminal trial of defendant Nguyen Van Hoan (46 years old), residing in Cong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking”took place on a cold day. Hoan sat huddled in the large, quiet auditorium, his body emaciated. He was the eldest son, and after him he had four brothers and sisters. The defendant also had a wife and two children, but on the day of his trial, not a single relative showed up.

Hoan said that because he had little education, he mainly worked as a freelancer to earn money. His life was not yet well-off, but not so poor either. But recently, his wife became seriously ill, causing the family's life to be turned upside down. To have money for his wife's medicine, Hoan and his children had to work harder.

On the afternoon of July 6, 2020, Hoan decided to take a day off work to go to Vinh City to visit his neighbor who was being treated at the hospital. Before leaving, his neighbor Le Van Luong came to ask Hoan to take a package to Vinh City. Hoan asked what it was, but this person said "just some miscellaneous things". Nguyen Van Hoan said to leave whatever he wanted in front of the house, but Luong said he would leave it at the gas station later. Luong also promised to pay him with transportation and food expenses. Because they were neighbors and familiar with each other, Hoan agreed.

Defendant Nguyen Van Hoan received a life sentence. Photo: Tran Vu

Not long after, at a gas station in Cong Thanh commune, Hoan went to meet Luong to pick up the goods. After that, Hoan took a bus to Vinh city. When they were near the city, Hoan called the recipient at the phone number that Luong sent. The recipient arranged to pick up the "goods" at the gate of Nghe An General Hospital. At the same time, Luong called Hoan and told him: "When they give you enough money, we will deliver the goods. I don't care how much money they give you. However much they give you, you give me that much." Hearing Luong say that, Hoan realized that the bag contained drugs. Worried, Hoan called Luong many times but the man did not answer. At this time, Hoan did not dare to throw away the drugs, did not dare to report to the authorities because he was afraid that Luong would retaliate, so he continued to keep the bag.

Hoan went inside the hospital and sat down to wait for someone to pick up the package. A moment later, the recipient told Hoan to go to the front gate of the hospital for convenience. In front of the hospital gate, Hoan sat down at a cafe to wait. A moment later, a young man arrived by car. After asking Hoan "do you have the goods yet?", this man said he only had a little over a hundred million dong, not enough money, so he told Hoan to wait a bit longer and then left.

A moment later, the young man returned and gave Hoan a bag of money, saying it was 290 million VND, and asked Hoan to deliver the drugs. While Hoan was making the transaction, the police came to check and arrest Hoan along with the evidence. Taking advantage of the loophole, the young man bought the drugs and fled. The investigation agency determined that the total amount of drugs that Hoan bought and sold was 986.305 grams.

During the investigation, Nguyen Van Hoan changed his statement that the drugs were brought to Vinh City by Le Van The (Hoan's cousin) to deliver to customers. When Hoan met The, Le Van Luong was with him. The asked Hoan to bring them to Vinh City. Therefore, Hoan suspected that the drugs belonged to Luong and The. When Hoan agreed, The told him to go to the house of a woman named Ly to receive the package. When Ly was questioned, the woman said that Hoan did not come to her house and did not send anything to her house. The is currently not in the area, so the investigation agency does not have enough evidence to investigate and clarify.

In the witness stand, the defendant asserted that he was only the one who helped Luong deliver the “package”. The defendant asserted that he did not know that there were drugs inside so he helped innocently. “Luong only promised to pay for the bus fare and food for the defendant”, Hoan stated.

But after the interrogation, the defendant admitted that at first he did not know it was drugs, but after hearing Luong say over the phone that the amount was hundreds of millions of dong, the defendant suspected it was drugs. When he heard the man who took the goods say hundreds of millions of dong, the defendant determined that it was drugs but did not dare report it to the police.

When asked why he did not report to the police when he discovered that it was drugs, but kept it and gave it to the customer, Hoan replied: "I was afraid of Luong's revenge." The court continued to ask why, and the defendant mumbled: Not only me, but most of the villagers were afraid of Luong. I was afraid that if I reported to the police, my family would be retaliated against. When asked why I and many people were so afraid of Luong, Hoan remained silent. "Because of an inexplicable fear, I committed a crime and had to appear in court like this. What do you think about this issue?" The panel of judges' question made the defendant tear up. The defendant admitted that what he did was wrong. Defendant Hoan asked for a reduced sentence so that he could have a chance to start his life over. He also hoped that the investigation agency would continue to investigate the case to prosecute the criminals before the law.

Considering that in this case the defendant had many mitigating circumstances, confessed honestly, and showed remorse, the panel sentenced Nguyen Van Hoan to life in prison for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking". Regarding Nguyen Van Luong, based on Hoan's testimony, the investigation agency ordered his detention in an emergency. However, Luong was not present in the area, so there was not enough basis to handle this subject according to regulations.

Because of his “incomprehensible” fear of his neighbor, Hoan agreed to carry a bag containing drugs to deliver to a customer. The indefinite prison sentence is a heavy price this man must pay. Hoan admitted that it was his biggest lesson. What makes the defendant worry is what will happen to his wife who is fighting a serious illness when he is in indefinite prison?