May 19, 2008
Nguyen says family memories comforted him while in Vietnam
Nguyen Quoc Quan got a hero’s welcome when he landed in San Francisco on Saturday night after spending six months in Vietnamese prisons for championing democracy.
But at his comfortable Elk Grove home on Sunday, Nguyen, 54, honored his wife, Ngo Mai Huong,who kept the faith, and the dozens of Vietnamese activists who have gone to prison for what they believe.
“Thank you for letting me express my love to the activists in Vietnam. Those to me are the true heroes,” Nguyen said. “I just follow them in my way. I hope all the Vietnamese overseas who supported me will pay attention to those willing to suffer because they’d love to have a country with freedom.”
A U.S. citizen, Nguyen was convicted of terrorism May 13 in Ho Chi Minh City for distributing 7,000 fliers promoting civil disobedience in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi and the non-violence movements that helped topple communism in Eastern Europe. He was sentenced to six months, credited for time served and deported.
Nguyen told The Bee he’s no terrorist but that he did author the two-page flier, titled “Non-Violent Struggle: The Approach To Eradicate Dictatorship, Set The Stage for Democracy.”
The flier calls for widespread civil disobedience and urges protesters to “faithfully maintain the discipline of non-violence.”
Nguyen is a longtime member of Viet Tan, the International Vietnamese Reform Party branded a terrorist organization by the government of Vietnam.
A high school math teacher in Vietnam, Nguyen fled in a fishing boat in 1981. He landed in Raleigh, N.C., earned a Ph.D in engineering in 1986, then moved to California.
After drinking in American freedom and democracy, “I thought maybe this is a solution for the Vietnamese people. So I dedicated my life to Viet Tan,” he said.
In November, he told his wife he was going to Thailand on a business trip, then confided in his oldest son Khoa, 15, “Between you and me, this time I may go to jail.”
Nguyen said he was smuggled into Vietnam from Cambodia. “I entered Vietnam illegally just because they told me I shouldn’t,” he said. “The state paper in Vietnam said ’Quan Nguyen is a very dangerous man, a terrorist,’ so I challenged them.”
He was arrested Nov. 17, two days after he entered the country and distributed the fliers. “I told them the whole truth, that I’m Quan Nguyen, a U.S. citizen and a Viet Tan Central Committee member,” he said.
He threatened a seven-day hunger strike until Vietnamese police finally let the U.S. Consulate know they had him. “The police investigator told me, ’I can bring you to Cambodia and just kill you.’ I said, ’I love to live, but I’m ready to die to protect the value of life.’”
Ever the teacher, Nguyen said he taught a 22-year-old cellmate how to read and write Vietnamese in two days.
There was nothing to read in his tiny cell with an open toilet, so he’d exercise, eat extra rice because his wife always told him he’s too skinny, and think of the sacrifices made by Vietnamese activists who have spent years in prison.
Terribly lonely, Nguyen said he took hope from a Sacramento Bee photo of his wife and two teenage sons he’d gotten from a U.S. consular official.
Clutching the cherished photo, he said, “I look at my family every day and before I go to sleep at night. This really helped!”
Nguyen’s arrest drew international attention. Michael Orona, a State Department deputy director who oversees human rights, said Nguyen’s case was a “team effort.” The strong voices of Vietnamese expatriates persuaded California’s congressional representatives and state legislators to lobby the State Department and the Vietnamese government.
Nguyen said his oldest son wants to join Sacramento’s Viet Tan chapter, which has about 30 members.
For democracy to come to Vietnam, the people must rise up in non-violent protest and be willing to go to jail for their beliefs, Nguyen said. “If people really need democracy, you can fight for it and send a signal to the world.”
Nguyen said he was happy “to pay the price for my beliefs – it was worth it.”
He’ll keep fighting, but he’ll also return to his job as a programmer, help his sons with their homework and remember his biggest champion, his wife.
At the airport party hosted by Sacramento Assemblyman Dave Jones and 100 friends and relatives, Nguyen kissed his wife and whispered:
“Six months in jail made me realize that I love you more than I knew. I will be 10 times the husband I was before because I recognize I need that love and can’t take it for granted.”