May 13, 2008
HANOI, Vietnam – A court in southern Vietnam sentenced an American man of Vietnamese origin on Tuesday to six months in prison on terrorism charges and ordered that he be deported after serving his sentence, the presiding judge said.
I Am: A Man A Woman Looking for: A Woman A Man Nguyen Quoc Quan, a mathematician from Sacramento, California, was among several people arrested last November in a house in Ho Chi Minh City. Authorities said they were preparing to circulate anti-government pamphlets on behalf of Viet Tan, a California-based group that Vietnam considers a terrorist organization.
Viet Tan says it promotes nonviolent political change in Communist Vietnam, and U.S. Ambassador Michael Michalak has said he has seen no evidence the group is engaged in terrorism.
Quan was convicted in a one-day trial by the People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City, Presiding Judge Vu Phi Long said. Quan must be expelled from Vietnam within four days after serving his sentence, he said.
The court also sentenced Nguyen Hai, a Vietnamese citizen, to nine months in jail and three years of probation on the same charges, Long said.
Another Vietnamese defendant, Nguyen The Vu, was sentenced to five months and 26 days and was freed after Tuesday’s trial for time served, he added. Vu will serve one year of probation.
Long would not give other details of the trial.
Those arrested last November also included American citizen Truong Van Ba from Hawaii and French journalist Nguyen Thi Thanh Van.
Ba, whose American name is Leon Truong, and Van were released in December.
Vietnamese authorities have said Quan entered the country on a forged Cambodian passport.
Communist Vietnam does not tolerate any form of dissent, which it considers a threat to its one-party rule.