Got an invite in the email from Viet Tan. Three people falsely accused and convicted by the Vietnamese communist courts of being “terrorists” are coming to Westminster for a meet-and-greet.
These are members of Viet Tan, a Vietnamese political party based in the Bay Area and with membership world-wide, who advocate for a non-violent political reform in Vietnam, replacing the one-party rule there with democracy.
These three, together with three others, were arrested in Vietnam in November 2007. They were all accused of being terrorists. Three weeks later, Truong Van Ba, 58 of Hawaii (pictured), was released to return home. The following day, Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, 52, a Swiss citizen, was also released and placed on a plane out to Switzerland.
Quan Q. Nguyen, Ph.D., 58 of Sacramento, was held back and tried as a terrorist. The sham trial lasted only 6 hours and resulted in a sentence of time served plus 4 days. Dr. Nguyen returned to the U.S. last Saturday.
While Quan Nguyen was in custody, a group of Viet Tan members flew into the country to visit him in jail. They too were detained and released after 48 hours. Read the Register’s story by Deepa Bharath here. State-controlled media accuses them of terrorism as well.
The reception is as follows:
5:30 pm, Friday May 23
Westminster Civic Center
8200 Westminster Blvd., Westminster CA 92683
Ever since the U.S. engaged in the Global War On Terrorism, the Vietnamese government has taken to slapping the “terrorist” labels on U.S. citizens who advocate for democracy in Vietnam.
In one instance, they accused a Vietnamese-American of terrorist plots against the U.S. General Consulate in Hochiminh City. The purported “victim” denounced the baseless accusation, demanded his release, and next thing you know President Bush and Vice-President Cheney greeted him at the White House.
These Viet Tan “terrorists” are my real hero. I think they are the real freedom fighters. Let’s have a fundrasing to send our Bolsa freedom fighters to vietnam. I have a dream to see them chanting “Down down with communist”, “Democracty for VN” etc in the street of Saigon. These scumbags need to stop their nonsense protesting and labeling their fellow viets as cummie. Enough and enough.
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