The appeal court of the Supreme People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City has canceled the death sentence handed down to a Philippine woman on drug trafficking charges and requested a fresh probe into the case.
The court ordered the cancellation on October 29 and returned the case file to the city People’s Court, asking for a re-investigation into the case in which Donna Buenagua Mazon, 39, of Philippine nationality, was sentenced to death for illegally transporting drugs.
According to the indictment, Mazon met a person named Precious Rudica through the Internet in August 2013.
Three months later, Rudica hired Mazon to travel to Vietnam and Brazil and then take a suitcase from Brazil back to the Southeast Asian country.
Rudica promised to pay her US$3,000 as remuneration and also cover all expenses related to the trip.
In early December 2013, Rudica pay Mazon $1,500 in advance and asked her to go to Vietnam. After staying in Vietnam for several days, Mazon flew to Brazil and received a suitcase from a stranger under Rudica’s instructions.
At 7:30 pm on December 31, 2013, Mazon flew back to Vietnam and arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, where customs officers discovered two bags of cocaine weighing 1.5kg hidden in the suitcase.
Mazon was arrested and later sentenced to death by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court. She appealed the death sentence, asking for a commutation.
At yesterday’s appeal hearing, the Supreme People’s Court said that the content of drugs or drug precursors in the 1.5kg of cocaine had not been determined to form a basis for sentencing.
According to prevailing regulations, the weight of drugs in any drug trafficking case must be concretely determined, the supreme court said.
Therefore, the fact that the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court sentenced the woman to death without announcing the actual amount of drugs transported was unacceptable, the supreme court said.
Because of the shortcomings, the supreme court decided to cancel the entire verdict and request a fresh probe into the case.
Under Vietnam’s Penal Code, those who are convicted of smuggling more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine will be given the death sentence.
The capital penalty is also applied to those who are indicted for producing or selling 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics.
Several foreigners have recently been sentenced to death for smuggling drugs into Vietnam.
In October 2012, Vietnam sentenced a 61-year-old Filipina to death for smuggling five kilograms of methamphetamine into the country.
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