"I am really grateful to the State for its tolerance and I am determined to rebuild my life," Phan Thi Hien of the southern province of Tay Ninh said in an interview about the government's amnesty of prisoners on the occasion of National Day.

Photo: ND

On September 2, Hien and 5,351 people serving time in prison will be released under a decision signed late last week by State President Nguyen Minh Triet.

At HCM City's Thu Duc and Xuan Loc prisons, 262 prisoners, including Hien, will be released.

"I used to be a teacher. However, I became rich in a short time because I used counterfeit money. This wrong action led me to an eight-year prison sentence, leaving behind my husband and children," she said.

"When I began living in prison I felt so distracted that I wanted to die. Thanks to the superintendent's words of consolation and explanation, I understood that I committed a sin and needed to pay for it," she added.

Thai Van Sac and Thai Van Dung, who are brothers, are also being released.

"I cannot imagine how my parents look like and how society has changed. But I know I shall have to do my best to become a good farmer and have a better life. I want to compensate for the hard years When I had to live in prison due to my crime," Sac said.

Sac and Dung both received a 20-year prison sentence after being found guilty by a court of killing a neighbour in a fight as a result of a land dispute that had simmered for years.

State amnesty is also expected to create an opportunity for Nguyen Van 'T', aged 23 and from the southern central province of Binh Thuan. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

T. said: "My family does not yet know that I will be released. I pledge not to be stupid and commit a crime again."

"In prison, I received the superintendents' counsel that was more thoughtful than that of my parents. When I was at home I was really pampered by my parents so I thought I could do anything," he said.

A total of 178 prisoners serving time at the Xuan Loc Prison have been put on the list of those who will receive State amnesty in the first round, according to Director of the Xuan Loc Prison, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Huu Thong.

Prisoners serving their sentences as well as those whose sentences are pending or have been postponed were eligible for the special amnesty.

Vietnam pardoned and released a total of 798 prisoners earlier this year on National Reunification Day (April 30) and May Day (May 1).

(Source: Viet Nam News)