VietNamNet Bridge – Four police officers in Quang Ninh province have been suspended from work for clarifying their responsibilities in a special case: a female prisoner under death penalty is pregnant.

Prisoner Nguyen Thi Hue.

Prisoner Nguyen Thi Hue, 42, was sentenced to death in June 2014 for drug trading. She was detained at a prison in Quang Ninh Province while waiting for the execution of the death penalty.

In January 2016, superintendents detected Hue’s state andmedical exams showed that she was pregnant in the 4th or 5th month.

According to investigation, Hue offered a male prisoner named Nguyen Tuan Hung, 27, who was in charge of cooking, VND50 million ($2,500) to help her get pregnant.

In August 2015, Hung sought ways to give Hue his sperm in plastic bags twice. Hue injected the sperm in her womb and got pregnant.

About this case, lawyers said that the prisoner can escape from the death penalty based on Article 35 of the Penal Code. The death sentence could be reduced to a life sentence.

Lawyers also said that for the act of trading sperm, Hue and Hung will be fined VND30 to VND40 million ($1,500-$2,000) only, under the current law.

For the superintendents, they can be suspended or face criminal proceeding. If they intentionally helped the prisoner to getpregnant, they will be charged with"Abuse of positions and powers on duty" and in the other case they will face the charge of “Irresponsibility causing serious consequences," said lawyer Ta Anh Tuan from the Bach Gia Law & Associate in Hanoi.

Ten years ago, a similar incident happened with prisoner under death sentence Nguyen Thi Oanh at a prison in Hoa Binh Province. In this case, Oanh was assisted by two jailers who opened her detention room five times for a male prisoner to have sex with her. In March 2007, Oanh gave birth to a boy. The two jailers were imprisoned for 42-60 months.

In the latest cases, some medical experts said that the opportunity to get pregnant from sperm placed in a plastic was very small. They suspected that prisoner Hue got pregnant after having sex with a man.

Dr. Pham Thi Minh Trang, former vice head of the Obstetrics and Family Planning Ward of Hospital 198, said that in the environment in the vagina, sperm can survive for 72 hours and the woman can be pregnant if the sperm meets her eggs. In the environment outside the body, sperm can survive in certain weather conditions and in the way they are preserved.

Normally, it is difficult for women to get pregnant even by artificial insemination at hospital, where the procedures are performed strictly and methodologically, Trang said.

Another obstetric doctor Le Thi Kim Dung said that to avoid similar cases, female prisoners should take contraceptives.

Linh Nhat