The pain behind the death penalty

(Baonghean.vn) - When a man bursts into tears, perhaps that is when he feels the most helpless. At the trial that day, the nearly 60-year-old man continuously sobbed loudly, his two scarred hands raised to cover his face, and when his legs were shaking and he could no longer stand, he staggered to find the edge of a chair and collapsed...

» Sentenced to death for carrying a gun to sell drugs

That is the father of defendant Tho Ba Nai (born in 1990, H'Mong ethnic group, residing in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district) who was just sentenced to death by the People's Court of Nghe An province for two crimes of "Illegal drug trafficking" and "Illegal possession of military weapons" on December 27.

The man was wearing a black shirt with a wet patch of dirt still stuck to the hem. Outside in the cold rain, he had been huddled up during the trial, his eyes were dark and full of tears. His parents felt heartbroken when their son was imprisoned. But perhaps he could not have imagined that his own son would receive the highest sentence. The panic and fear were evident when the representative of the Procuracy requested the death penalty for Nai.

The grief of defendant Tho Ba Nai's relatives. Photo: Phuong Thao

The jury entered the courtroom to deliberate, he frantically ran to hug his son, crying loudly. The police officers explained to him that family members were not allowed to be close to the defendant at the trial, he tried to reach out and stroke his son's head and kiss his hair again. Then when his legs were shaking and he could no longer stand, he staggered and found the back of a chair and collapsed. The father's love for his erring son made everyone present in the courtroom speechless.

Tho Ba Nai's young wife, Ly Y Denh, could not bear the great shock. Pregnant, Denh leaned against her sister, absent-minded, tears rolling down her cheeks. Until she saw her husband with his hands cuffed and calling her name, Denh forgot all fear and walked to her husband, sobbing. Denh would lose her husband, and their first child would not know his father. The pain was too much for the young wife to bear.

Dênh could not have imagined that the day a strange man came to sleep at her house and asked her husband to go somewhere early in the morning would be the day her husband got into trouble with the law. Dênh only found out when she heard that her husband was arrested near Nam Nhoong bridge, carrying 10 heroin bricks and a gun.

Defendant Tho Ba Nai. Photo: Phuong Thao

Like her father-in-law, Denh could not have imagined that her husband's sentence would be so severe. When the judge announced the sentence, he clearly stated the punishment for each crime. Denh buried her head in her sister's body, in despair.

The trial ended, Tho Ba Nai was escorted to the car to return to the prison. Denh was exhausted, only able to look at her husband blankly. The father once again ran after his son and cried loudly. The extreme mental pain, the thin shirt on his body was not enough to warm his body, making his whole body tremble.

I caught a glimpse of the figure of the judge standing behind the court door for a long time, silently watching the separation of the defendant's family. Perhaps for that judge, at this moment, he was also experiencing mixed emotions between responsibility and conscience...

Phuong Thao