01 March 2003 :

Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong granted amnesty to five people on death row, state media said.
The five men, aged 27 to 44, earned death sentences for murder and drug trafficking charges, the An Ninh Thu Do (Capital Security) reported.
The president commuted their death sentences to life in prison while rejecting appeals from nine others set to face the firing squad.
Amnesties are usually granted in the lead up to national day celebrations on September 2, and at the beginning of the Lunar New Year at the Tet festival.
While no reason was given for the latest batch of pardons, it is not the first time that Tran has announced amnesties at other times of the year. Six death row inmates saw their sentences commuted by the president in July 2002.