Talk:Ly Tong
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[edit] Thai court paves way to extradite dissident
The Associated Press
Published: September 7, 2006
BANGKOK A Thai criminal court ruled Thursday that Ly Tong, a high- profile Vietnamese-American dissident, could be extradited to Vietnam, where he would face charges of violating airspace for hijacking a plane and dropping 50,000 anti-Communist leaflets over Ho Chi Minh City in 2000.
Tong, a South Vietnamese air force veteran who later became a U.S. citizen, hijacked the twin-engine plane from Thailand in November 2000. The leaflet dropping coincided with a visit to Vietnam by Bill Clinton, then president of the United States.
Tong, who had hijacked planes before to spread his political message, was arrested after landing in Thailand and later sentenced to a Thai prison, where he served five years.
The Vietnamese government sent an extradition request to Thailand in 2004 charging Tong with slandering the Hanoi government and violating the territorial security of Vietnam.
The Thai court did not consider the slander charge, deeming it a political offense, and therefore not grounds for extradition under Thai law.
But the court ruled that there was "sufficient reason to extradite the defendant to face trial in Vietnam," arguing that "the national security offense is not a political offense."
Tong vowed to appeal the decision within the 15-day deadline set by the court. The Vietnamese government has three months to arrange for extradition, and if the time elapses without action on Vietnam's part, Tong can be set free, the court said.
Tong provided air support to U.S. ground troops during the Vietnam War, but was shot down over North Vietnam in 1975 and spent five years in a prison camp before he finally escaped. He eventually sought refuge in the United States.
In 1992, he hijacked a Vietnamese Airlines plane and forced the pilot to fly over Ho Chi Minh City as he dropped anti-Communist leaflets. He then parachuted from the plane, thinking to lead a revolution against the Communist regime, but was instead captured by Vietnamese authorities and imprisoned.
In a government amnesty, Tong was released and returned to the United States in 1998, at which point he rented an aircraft to drop anti-Communist leaflets over Havana.
"I went there to save my country, not harm my country. When I dropped the leaflets in Vietnam, I harmed the Communist Party," he testified last month.
BANGKOK A Thai criminal court ruled Thursday that Ly Tong, a high- profile Vietnamese-American dissident, could be extradited to Vietnam, where he would face charges of violating airspace for hijacking a plane and dropping 50,000 anti-Communist leaflets over Ho Chi Minh City in 2000.
Tong, a South Vietnamese air force veteran who later became a U.S. citizen, hijacked the twin-engine plane from Thailand in November 2000. The leaflet dropping coincided with a visit to Vietnam by Bill Clinton, then president of the United States.
Tong, who had hijacked planes before to spread his political message, was arrested after landing in Thailand and later sentenced to a Thai prison, where he served five years.
The Vietnamese government sent an extradition request to Thailand in 2004 charging Tong with slandering the Hanoi government and violating the territorial security of Vietnam.
The Thai court did not consider the slander charge, deeming it a political offense, and therefore not grounds for extradition under Thai law.
But the court ruled that there was "sufficient reason to extradite the defendant to face trial in Vietnam," arguing that "the national security offense is not a political offense."
Tong vowed to appeal the decision within the 15-day deadline set by the court. The Vietnamese government has three months to arrange for extradition, and if the time elapses without action on Vietnam's part, Tong can be set free, the court said.
Tong provided air support to U.S. ground troops during the Vietnam War, but was shot down over North Vietnam in 1975 and spent five years in a prison camp before he finally escaped. He eventually sought refuge in the United States.
In 1992, he hijacked a Vietnamese Airlines plane and forced the pilot to fly over Ho Chi Minh City as he dropped anti-Communist leaflets. He then parachuted from the plane, thinking to lead a revolution against the Communist regime, but was instead captured by Vietnamese authorities and imprisoned.
In a government amnesty, Tong was released and returned to the United States in 1998, at which point he rented an aircraft to drop anti-Communist leaflets over Havana.
"I went there to save my country, not harm my country. When I dropped the leaflets in Vietnam, I harmed the Communist Party," he testified last month.Bnguyen 11:34, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
