Five Vietnamese have been sentenced to death in a heroin smuggling case that corrupt law enforcement officials initially suppressed, state media reported on Saturday.
Eleven people received life prison terms and 13 others were given lesser penalties when the court in northern Thai Nguyen province issued its verdict on Friday, the Vietnam News said.Among the guilty were former policemen, court officials and judges who accepted bribes to ensure the acquittal of the accused at their first trial in 2006, the report said.The Thanh Nien newspaper previously reported that three of those sentenced to death were individually charged with selling several kilograms (pounds) of heroin.International monitors rank Vietnam as one of the world's most corrupt nations, and the ruling Communist Party says tackling graft is one of its biggest challenges.Authorities in Vietnam do not issue death penalty statistics but the latest convictions bring to 31 the number of people sentenced to death this year, according to reports in state-linked media.
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