“Terrorist” gets time served plus 4 days
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008A Vietnamese-American mathematician was convicted by a “People’s Court” in Hochiminh City today of terrorism and sentenced to a whopping … 6 months. Since he’s been held for 5 months and 26 days, he’ll be released in 4 days and free to return to the U.S., which has called the charges against him ludicrous.
Quan Quoc Nguyen, Ph.D., of Sacramento, was arrested on November 17, 2007 for possession of a document entitled “From Dictatorship to Democracy,” an analysis of nonviolent democracy movements from the Ukraine to Lebanon.
His organization, the California-based Viet Tan political party, held a press conference today in Westminster, where his very relieved wife Huong Ngo (pictured with her husband’s portrait) appeared and said again that she’s in full support of her husband’s activities.
Eyewitnesses of the trial in Vietnam told the press conference by internet phone that the Vietnamese court took only 6 hours to hear all purported evidence, arguments from both sides, and render a decision. Nguyen was sentenced to 6 months and is expected to leave the country in 4 days. A Vietnamese citizen co-defendant was sentenced to time served, and a Thai citizen was sentenced to time served plus 3 months.
“Terrorist” has become a favorite label for the communist government of Vietnam to slap on political dissidents, especially those with U.S. citizenship. Read more here.
Apparently, incumbent OC Supervisor Janet Nguyen is short of campaign funds. It seems that the Van Tran camp’s strategy of hitting her in the pocketbooks worked. She says she’s short by $25,000.
, from Sacramento, is accused of “terrorism,” and his alleged terrorist acts consist of handing pro-democracy flyers to his friends. He has been held since November 2007.