Despite international calls to spare his life, Vietnam has executed long-time death row inmate Le Van Manh, a lawyer revealed on Saturday.
In the northern Thanh Hoa Province, Manh was accused of robbing a store, raping a girl, and killing her in 2005.
According to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), police forced him to make a confession that was used as evidence to convict him.
Manh then denied making the statement, claiming that the police had brutally mistreated him.
2008’s appellate trial resulted in the death sentence being imposed by the Hanoi Supreme Court.
Hanoi lawyer Nguyen Ha Luan, who helped Manh’s family petition the Vietnamese president to halt the execution, posted his death certificate on social media Saturday.
“According to reports and official letters, defendant Le Van Manh was executed… the (execution) notice letter has been sent to the family,” he said on Facebook.
The death certificate stated: “Le Van Manh born in 1982. Nationality: Vietnamese. Died at 08:45 on September 22, 2023, at execution house of Hoa Binh provincial police.”
Citing official documentation forwarded to Manh’s family, the attorney claimed that his body was interred at Cho Nhang cemetery.
The diplomatic missions of the European Union, Canada, Norway, and the United Kingdom in Vietnam pleaded with the Vietnamese government to have pity on Manh earlier this week.
“We strongly oppose the use of capital punishment at all times and in all circumstances, which is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and can never be justified, and advocate for Vietnam to adopt a moratorium on all executions,” the joint statement said.
Amnesty International called the execution “sickening”.
“Despite knowing in detail that Le Van Manh’s case was mired in serious irregularities and violations of the right to a fair trial… authorities in Vietnam executed him anyway mere days after informing his family to make arrangements for his remains,” Chiara Sangiorgio, Amnesty’s death penalty expert, said Saturday.
The ICJ said Manh’s execution “is a violation of his right to life and freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment under international human rights law.”
“Vietnam must join the global trend towards the abolition of the death penalty and the establishment of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty,” the ICJ’s spokesman said.
