The ultimate pain of an old and weak mother with an unruly child

In the crowd at the People's Court of Nghe An province, the image of a woman with silver hair, limping with difficulty into the courtroom attracted the attention of many people. Ms. Nguyen Thi N. is the mother of Nguyen Tat Thach (born in 1977, residing in Vinh City) - the defendant brought to trial for the crime of Concealing a Criminal. Although Thach knew that Phan Trong Son (born in 1964, residing in Vinh City) had committed the act of buying and selling a large amount of drugs, he concealed it, making it difficult for the investigation agency to solve the case.

During the court session, Mrs. N. sat quietly. Sometimes she raised her calloused hand to wipe her face. Sometimes, the 76-year-old mother put her head down on the chair, her face tired. She said that because her husband was sick and had a hunched back, she could not come to court to see her son today. Even though she was tired, she still asked someone to take her to the provincial court.

Defendant Nguyen Tat Thach was imprisoned for the 7th time with a 4-year prison sentence. Photo: Tran Vu

Pointing to her thigh, she said that this was the reason why she had difficulty walking. Before that, the accident injured her leg and affected her health. However, she still tried to work and take care of her second son - Nguyen Tat Thach.

Accordingly, in 1994, Nguyen Tat Thach was sentenced to 12 months in prison for two crimes: Theft of citizen property and Theft of socialist property. Also in that year, Thach continued to be sentenced to 15 months in prison for the crime of Robbery of citizen property.

Since then, Thach has been in and out of prison many times. In 1997, Thach was sentenced to 15 months in prison for theft of public property. Two years later, Thach committed the same crime again. The only difference was that this time, Thach received a heavier sentence of six years in prison.

In 2005, Nguyen Tat Thach was sentenced to 36 months in prison for theft. For a long time after that, Thach did not violate the law, making his relatives secretly happy. But the joy did not last long, in 2014, Thach was imprisoned for 3 months for illegal detention. After being released from prison for a while, Thach was arrested for concealing a criminal, and today his relatives once again went to court.

Regarding this crime, around the beginning of March 2022, Thach was invited by Phan Trong Son to go to Cau Treo border gate (Ha Tinh) to play. However, Son's actual purpose was to get drugs, which he had previously contacted the seller many times.

At midnight on March 6, Son drove near Cau Treo border gate and went alone to get drugs hidden in an electric pole. At around 2 a.m. the same day, when Son and Thach arrived in Vinh City, the police stopped the car for inspection.

Seeing that, Son backed up the car and said to Thach, “Something happened, throw that bag away.” Thach opened the car door, grabbed the bag of drugs and ran away, but was arrested by the police. Searching Son’s house, the police also discovered several packages of drugs that he said he bought to sell for profit.

The investigation agency determined that in this case, Phan Trong Son must bear criminal responsibility for the illegal purchase and sale of more than 5.8 kg of drugs. When Nguyen Tat Thach learned that Son was buying and selling drugs and was asked by the police to stop the car, he took the drugs and ran away to prevent the police from detecting him, so he must bear responsibility for the act of concealing the crime.

Thach's mother tries to send a message to her son. Photo: Tran Vu

Before the witness stand, Thach confessed sincerely, showing remorse. The defendant said he did not know about Son's drug trafficking. Defendant Thach said he only knew that the bag Son claimed was drugs when the police discovered and arrested him. This defendant presented his difficult circumstances and young children to ask the court to reduce his sentence.

Listening to her son's explanation, Mrs. N. sat below with her head down. She said that since Thach was arrested for the 7th time, his wife had gone to work far away and had not returned to take care of their child. "Sometimes my daughter-in-law asks relatives to come and pick up her child for a few days, but she does not come back to live with him. My son is in prison, my daughter-in-law left, so now my husband and I have to take care of our grandchild," Mrs. N. sighed.

Talking about her son who had been in and out of prison many times, Mrs. N. shook her head. She had advised her son many times to work hard and not break the law, but it was all in vain. She said that one year, on the first day of Tet, she sat down and talked to her son, begging him not to play around and break the law anymore. But then, what she received were further sentences from the law for her "unruly" son.

Her son was in court for the seventh time, and the elderly mother struggled to get closer to her son to give him some advice. Her weak voice seemed to be lost in the large courtroom. Who knew if Thach would recognize his mother’s bitterness and turn around, or if he would commit the same crime as many times before…

For the crime of concealing a criminal, Nguyen Tat Thach was sentenced to 4 years in prison. Meanwhile, defendant Phan Trong Son was sentenced to death for the crime of illegal drug trafficking.

The trial ended, Mrs. N. and everyone left the court with difficulty. What she was worried about now was the future of her young grandchild when she and her husband were old. “Dad is in prison, will my meager salary be enough to buy medicine and pay for the grandchild’s education…”, she sighed.