Vietnam’s move to end executions for drug trafficking sparks debate in region

Vietnam is seeking to end executions for drug trafficking under a draft revision to its Penal Code, a notable shift in a country with one of Southeast Asia’s toughest anti-drug regimes. The proposal, presented to lawmakers last week, would remove trafficking from Vietnam’s list of capital crimes. Last year, Hanoi kept the offence on the list during an earlier round of death penalty reforms. If passed, the revised law would leave capital punishment for four crimes: treason, murder, terrorism a...

By Vincent Tan