Posted on 11/10/2006 3:32:37 AM PST by excludethis
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - Three Americans were convicted by a Vietnamese court on terrorism charges Friday after being accused of trying to take over radio airwaves and call for an uprising against the communist government.
A judge sentenced the Americans and four Vietnamese to 15 months in prison, with credit for time served. They all are expected to be freed within one month, and the Americans required to leave the country within 10 days of their release.
The defendants, all of Vietnamese descent, had been jailed without charges for more than a year, prompting Washington to pressure Hanoi to move forward swiftly and fairly.
President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plan to visit Vietnam next week for the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Both countries had been eager to resolve the case before Vietnam's biggest-ever international event begins.
The defendants faced punishments ranging from 12 years in prison to execution, but prosecutors sought lesser terms, saying the defendants had repented and had no previous criminal records.
It is highly unusual for Vietnam to give a lenient sentence for national security crimes, especially in such a high-profile case. But the quick resolution to the diplomatically sensitive trial could end a distraction from APEC and Vietnam's entrance into the World Trade Organization, which was approved this week.
All on trial were accused of plotting to smuggle radio equipment into Vietnam to broadcast a call for a revolution to topple the government.
An indictment said the scheme was hatched by the Government of Free Vietnam, a California-based organization that the Vietnamese government considers a terrorist group.
It is one of many anti-communist groups founded by Vietnamese refugees in the United States. Many of its leaders are soldiers of the former South Vietnamese Army who fled Vietnam after the war ended in 1975.
The Government of Free Vietnam group is run by Chanh Huu "Tony" Nguyen, who is wanted in Vietnam for failed plots to bomb the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand and buildings in Vietnam.
Nguyen, a permanent U.S. resident, was arrested at Vietnam's request in April while traveling in South Korea. He was held for three months before being released to the U.S.
Prosecutors say the defendants convicted Friday set up an adoption agency in Cambodia as a front to disguise their plans.
Those found guilty Friday were: Thuong Nguyen Foshee, 58, of Orlando, Fla.; Le Van Binh, 31, of Tampa, Fla.; and Huynh Bich Lien, 51, of San Gabriel, Calif.; Vietnamese nationals Tran Dat Phuong, 65; brothers Ho Van Giau, 59, and Ho Van Hien, 38, and Cao Tri, 35. Cao Tri is also a U.S. resident.
Under questioning from the judge, some of the defendants acknowledged carrying radio equipment to Cambodia on behalf of the Government of Free Vietnam, while others described themselves as employees at an adoption agency.
Lien said she was not a member of the Government of Free Vietnam, but had gone to work for USIM, a charity in Cambodia that helped arrange adoptions of Cambodian kids for Americans. She said she knew Chanh was associated with USIM but that all she did was help take care of children.
Two representatives of the U.S. consulate attended the trial.
On display near the court house entrance were two tables covered with radio equipment the defendants had allegedly planned to use.
The case has attracted attention from Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., who raised the issue with the Bush administration and reportedly blocked a key vote in Congress that would normalize trade relations between the former foes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061110/ap_on_bi_ge/vietnam_intel
Intel to spend $1B on Vietnam plant 6 minutes ago
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - Intel Corp., the world's largest computer chipmaker, announced Friday that it will more than triple its initial $300 million investment in Vietnam, dramatically expanding the size of a chip assembly and testing plant that it is constructing in the country's southern business hub.
The company plans to spend $1 billion on the plant and expand its size from 150,000 square feet to 500,000 square feet, a company official said Friday.
Construction is expected to be finished in 2007. It will be Vietnam's first semiconductor facility, and Intel's sixth testing facility in Asia.
>>Under questioning from the judge, some of the defendants acknowledged carrying radio equipment to Cambodia on behalf of the Government of Free Vietnam, while others described themselves as employees at an adoption agency.<<
This makes it sound like they didn't even enter Vietnam. I'm surprised the South Koireans would arrest them and that the U.S. would not protest, if they in fact never entered Vietnam.
Its not normal American outlook to treat beaming anti-communist speech from across the border as terrorism. By that logic Al Jazeera broadcasters shoud be arrested...and not a few people at the BBC.
Terror? Terror? Talking on the radio is terror? These people don't know the definition of the word!
Maybe not; but it's the LAW in that country!
These people created the modern day definition for the word terror. They also know all about how to stop anymore than one person talking to another about change.
Yer tag line is funny!
The trial of Americans in the last country we sold down the river.
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