Vo Van Thuong, the youngest president in Vietnam’s history, was forced to step down from his post last month in an unexpected turn of political events.

Thuong resigned just a year after he assumed his presidency at 52. But during Thuong’s short-lived time in office, two critical events unfolded: the authorities issued decisions to execute [1] Nguyen Van Chuong and Le Van Manh, two wrongfully convicted death-row inmates who were in prison for almost two decades, prompting a widespread public outcry.