Will President Tô Lâm Grant Clemency? The 20-Year Death Row Wait of Hồ Duy Hải and Nguyễn Văn Chưởng

For nearly 20 years and 12 presidencies, two death row inmates—Hồ Duy Hải (18 years) and Nguyễn Văn Chưởng (19 years)—have remained in solitary confinement, waiting for a chance at exoneration or clemency. 

They have watched the presidential office pass from Nguyễn Minh Triết, Trương Tấn Sang, Trần Đại Quang, Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh (acting), Nguyễn Phú Trọng, and Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, to Võ Thị Ánh Xuân (twice acting), Võ Văn Thưởng, Tô Lâm, and Lương Cường.

Now, from behind their prison cell doors, they witness yet another presidency. Following his inauguration on the morning of April 7, 2026, Tô Lâm once again holds the authority to grant them clemency.

A pressing question remains unresolved behind this transition: will the new president bring an end to the long, unanswered pleas of Nguyễn Văn Chưởng, Hồ Duy Hải, and countless other death row inmates and wrongful conviction cases, or will the silence continue to be passed down from one term to the next?

The Case of Nguyễn Văn Chưởng

Nguyễn Văn Chưởng, sentenced to death in 2007 for allegedly killing a police major in Hải Phòng, has steadfastly maintained his innocence for years. [1]

Chưởng’s younger brother stated that at the time of the murder, Chưởng was at his hometown in Tứ Kỳ District, then part of Hải Dương Province—about 40 kilometers from the crime scene. [2]

This detail has repeatedly come up in appeals for exoneration but has not changed the verdict.

In addition, in letters sent from prison, Nguyễn Văn Chưởng described the investigation process, alleging coercive interrogation and the use of torture. [3] 

According to his account, he was subjected to electric batons and beatings to force him to sign confession statements. These claims have further deepened concerns over the objectivity of the legal proceedings.

At times, the case has drawn public attention. In 2011, the Supreme People’s Procuracy issued its first protest for cassation review, but it was rejected by the Council of Judges of the Supreme People’s Court. [4] In 2015, the agency filed a second protest, which was again dismissed.

In 2023, the family of Nguyễn Văn Chưởng received a notice from the Hải Phòng People’s Court (former) requesting an application to receive the body or ashes of the executed inmate. [5]

However, the notice did not specify an execution date or confirm whether Nguyễn Văn Chưởng had been executed. About ten days after receiving the notice, the family confirmed to Radio Free Asia that Chưởng had not been executed, though his mental state had deteriorated. [6]

In this context, the only remaining option is presidential clemency. 

Before leaving office, Võ Văn Thưởng received a petition with nearly 5,800 signatures regarding the case of Nguyễn Văn Chưởng. However, no official response was issued. [7]

The Case of Hồ Duy Hải

The Hồ Duy Hải case is equally complex as the Nguyễn Văn Chưởng case, showing just as many signs of a potential miscarriage of justice. 

In 2008, Hải was sentenced to death for the alleged murder of two female employees at the Cầu Voi post office in Thủ Thừa District, Long An Province, and his situation has since evolved far beyond a standard murder conviction. It is now one of the most prolonged and controversial legal cases in public discourse. [8]

In hopes of a comprehensive review, Hải’s family and defense lawyers have spent the past 18 years submitting dozens of petitions for exoneration to judicial authorities, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, and the Office of the President. [9] 

Throughout this lengthy process, advocates have highlighted numerous inconsistencies. Defense lawyers argue that Hải’s confession contradicts the physical evidence collected at the crime scene and also points to indications of coercive interrogation and torture during the investigation. [10] 

Astonishingly, investigators reportedly bypassed collecting certain key pieces of evidence from the scene and instead purchased them from a market.

The clemency process has been an agonizing series of starts and stops. In 2012, then-President Trương Tấn Sang rejected the family’s initial clemency petition. [11]

Two years later, however, mounting domestic and international pressure led Sang to order a stay of execution. This rare move was interpreted as a positive signal that the case warranted further review. [12] Nevertheless, the process has largely stalled since then. 

Under President Nguyễn Phú Trọng in 2019, another clemency petition received no response. [13] 

Ultimately, the Council of Judges of the Supreme People’s Court upheld the death sentence in a 2020 final ruling, a cassation decision that sparked renewed controversy over its persuasiveness. [14]

A Fragile New Hope?

Originating in the late 2000s, a period when the judicial system of Việt Nam was still developing, the cases of Hồ Duy Hải and Nguyễn Văn Chưởng have drawn sustained domestic and international attention. [15] 

A coalition of defense lawyers, journalists, and civil society actors within Việt Nam continue to monitor the proceedings closely, holding out hope for a humane resolution.

Internationally, organizations such as Amnesty International have referenced these specific cases in their reports on the application of the death penalty in Việt Nam. [16]

Although statements from high-level authorities have previously suggested that these cases show “signs of wrongful conviction,” such assessments have not yet led to the annulment or revision of the verdicts. [17]

The political landscape, however, has just shifted. On April 7, the National Assembly elected Tô Lâm president with all 495 votes in favor. [18] 

Assuming the position of head of state of Việt Nam once again, this leader from Hưng Yên now holds the ultimate authority to grant clemency to death row inmates, such as Hải and Chưởng.

For the families of the two inmates, this transition triggers a familiar and exhausting cycle. Each time a new president is elected, they send out petitions hoping for reconsideration, only to be met time and again with silence. [19] 

Following this recent inauguration, Hồ Duy Hải’s younger sister, Hồ Thị Thu Thủy, spoke out on her personal Facebook page: “At the start of your term, my family and I hope you will give special attention to reviewing this case in the most objective, careful, and just manner. This could be the ‘first shot’—not by power, but by justice. Not by command, but by understanding and humanity.” [20]

To these families, each oath-taking ceremony of a head of state is not merely a transfer of power but potentially a final opportunity to reconsider the fate of their loved ones. 

Will President Tô Lâm break a silence that has endured for two decades, or will he continue along the path of his predecessors? 

How the new president chooses to act—whether by granting clemency, rejecting petitions, or leaving them unresolved—will determine the fate of these individual inmates and potentially set an important precedent for how the Vietnamese state addresses wrongful convictions.

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Hoàng Lam wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on April 8, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights of the English translation.