HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam released three of four detained American citizens shortly after the U.S. ambassador demanded to see evidence of terrorism or other charges to justify their detention, the U.S. Embassy said Wednesday.
No formal charges had been brought against the four, who were arrested in recent weeks, but the Vietnamese media have said that two of them were being investigated for terrorism. Two others were detained after they allegedly arrived at the Ho Chi Minh City airport with a weapon in their luggage.
Ambassador Michael Michalak told reporters Tuesday that he had seen no evidence to justify the detentions.
Hours later, Vietnam released Truong Van Ba, Nguyen Thi Thinh and Le Van Phan.
A fourth citizen, Nguyen Quoc Quan, remains in custody. Vietnamese authorities say he entered the country on a forged Cambodian passport.
Ba and Quan were arrested at a house in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 17 when authorities found them preparing to circulate pamphlets on behalf of Viet Tan, a California-based pro-democracy group that Vietnam considers a terrorist organization.
Viet Tan says it promotes non-violent political change in Vietnam, and Michalak said Tuesday that he has seen no evidence that the group is engaged in terrorism.
Ba, whose Americanized name is Leon Truong, left for his home in Hawaii on Tuesday evening, Warren said.
Thinh and Phan were arrested Nov. 23 at the Ho Chi Minh City airport, allegedly for carrying a weapon in their luggage.
Phan and Thinh, whose Americanized name is Helen Le, were expected to return to the United States as soon as Wednesday.
“One American is already en route back to the United States, and two others have been released and plan to return to the United States in the coming days,” Warren said. “We welcome this news.
The Viet Tan group has said that Thinh and Phan are not members and that it knows nothing about them, and Michalak said he believed the two sets of arrests were unrelated.
On Tuesday, Michalak told reporters he had seen no evidence linking any of the detainees to terrorism and called on the Vietnamese government to explain their arrests.
“If there is evidence that this group is engaged in terrorist activities, I would like to see it,” he said of Viet Tan. “The United States will protest any actions taken to silence those engaged in the peaceful expression of political views.”
Vietnamese government officials could not be reached for comment on the cases.
Duy Hoang, a U.S.-based leader of Viet Tan, said Ba’s release showed that the detainees had been held without justification.
“There has been absolutely no merit to these charges of terror,” Hoang said. “These individuals were only in Vietnam to express their views peacefully. Everything that the Vietnamese government said about Viet Tan and its activities was untrue.”
