The suffering of a wife whose husband has been an addict for more than ten years

Picked up a package of drugs in the forest

At the age of 50, with many children and grandchildren, having become a grandfather, Tran Dinh Luyen (born in 1970), residing in Linh Son commune, Anh Son district, continued to be tried by the People's Court of Nghe An province for the crime of“Illegal possession of drugs”. It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time Luyen has stood before the witness stand.

In 2008, Tran Dinh Luyen was sentenced by Anh Son District Court to 6 months in prison with a suspended sentence for gambling. Not only was he addicted to gambling, Luyen was also addicted to drugs, so in 2012 he was sentenced to 36 months in prison for illegal possession of drugs.

Having been in trouble with the law twice, Luyen still could not break away from the brown fairy. Luyen's relapse into drug addiction was the reason that pushed this man into prison.

According to the investigation agency's documents as well as the defendant's testimony at the trial, on June 6, 2020, Luyen borrowed his daughter-in-law's motorbike to go from home to the Vietnam - Laos border in Hanh Lam commune, Thanh Chuong district to find wild honey to sell.

Defendant Tran Dinh Luyen. Photo: Tran Vu

When stopping for a lunch break, Luyen saw a plastic bag next to the tree and opened it to check. Because he had used drugs before, Luyen knew it was "white stuff". Tran Dinh Luyen did not take it right away but looked around, and when he saw no one, he secretly hid it, waiting for the right time to take it back. After marking the location where he hid the drug package, Luyen continued his work of collecting wild honey. In the following days, this man kept thinking about the large amount of drugs he was hiding in the forest.

Therefore, on the morning of June 18, Luyen decided to ride his motorbike to the tree where he had previously hidden the drugs to put them in the trunk of his motorbike. While Luyen was moving home, Thanh Chuong District Police signaled him to stop for inspection and discovered many packages of drugs in the trunk of his motorbike with a weight of 762.88 grams. Faced with undeniable evidence, the subject admitted to his crime. Tran Dinh Luyen was prosecuted for the crime of illegal possession of drugs and was brought to trial.

At the trial, the defendant insisted that he did not know the origin of the drugs. The defendant stated that because he was addicted to drugs, when he discovered such a large quantity, he immediately intended to take it home to use gradually. "The defendant's purpose in taking it was to use it, not to sell it," defendant Luyen stated in court. Regarding the motorbike that the defendant used to commit the crime, Luyen stated that it belonged to his daughter-in-law and her husband. Because the defendant did not clearly state the purpose when borrowing it, the son and his wife did not know that the defendant was trafficking drugs. The defendant hoped that the authorities would return the motorbike so that his daughter-in-law and his husband could have a means of doing business.

The suffering of an addicted husband

If for Tran Dinh Luyen this was the third time in court, for Nguyen Thi T. (Luyen's wife) it was also the third time she followed her husband to court. As soon as she saw her husband in the courtroom, the 49-year-old woman was on the verge of tears. Sometimes she lowered her head to avoid the eyes of the man who had been her husband for many years. It seemed that her anger towards her husband had not yet subsided. She choked up and shared: "To be honest, today I did not want to go to court because I was still very angry with my husband. But thinking about the love between husband and wife, I packed up and came to encourage him. If he had listened to his wife and children, quit his drugs and started an honest business, we would not have had to meet each other in this difficult situation today."

Her husband was addicted to gambling and had been in prison, so while he was serving his sentence, Ms. T. stayed home to manage all the work, from farming to the family. Not to mention taking care of and educating her three children. However, the fact that her husband, after being released from prison, still did not work hard made her sad. She said that during the 11 years her husband was addicted to drugs, she cried silently. She had encouraged her husband many times to quit his addiction and work hard, also to set an example for her children and grandchildren, but everything went back to the way it was.

The fact that her husband was a long-term drug addict and then committed a crime because of drugs made Ms. T. sad. Photo: Tran Vu

During the court session, Ms. T.'s eyes were red many times. She said that for many years she had been running the market to take care of her husband and children, but because her husband was addicted to gambling, the family was still considered a near-poor household. "He has been addicted to drugs since 2009, so whatever money he earned was for his personal needs, but his wife and children could not rely on him for anything. He also went to the South to work for hire, but when he returned, he did not give his wife and children any money," she sighed and added that there was a time when her husband was forced to go to a drug rehabilitation center, but after a while, he relapsed. "Before being arrested this time, he had just returned from working for hire in the South. I thought that once he knew how to work to earn money, he would know how to appreciate the money he earned and not be addicted anymore, but unexpectedly...", Ms. T. left that sentence unfinished.

According to this woman, her husband's drug addiction caused a rift in their relationship. Although she was angry with her husband, she tried to be patient for the sake of her children and grandchildren. When they became grandparents, she encouraged her husband to quit his drug addiction to set a good example for their children and grandchildren. But in response to his wife's wishes, her husband returned to his old ways.

In court, defendant Luyen admitted that due to being addicted to drugs for many years, all the money he earned was spent on that substance. “Every day, I spend from 100,000 to 200,000 VND to buy drugs. I know that drug addiction is not good, I have tried to quit but failed,” defendant Luyen stated. A judge advised the defendant to stop and reform, become a good person, especially since he has become a grandfather. “Whether or not you are considered for a reduced sentence depends entirely on you. You should think about your wife, children, and grandchildren to start your life over,” the judge advised. Hearing this, the defendant expressed remorse and promised to change and start his life over.

For the crime of illegal possession of narcotics, the jury sentenced defendant Tran Dinh Luyen to 20 years in prison. Seeing her husband being led away, the wife stood up, wiped away her tears and left. Watching her figure slowly leave the court, many spectators could not help but feel sorry.