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[Page H4439]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FAIR TREATMENT FOR MICHAEL NGUYEN
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
California (Mr. Lowenthal) for 5 minutes.
Mr. LOWENTHAL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues,
especially led by Representative Katie Porter in support of her
constituent Michael Nguyen.
I have stayed involved in this case for just about a year, just
slightly less than a year, and I want to thank Representative Porter
for keeping the Members of Congress involved in this by having
periodic, almost monthly, calls with the U.S. Consul office in Vietnam.
I want to thank Ambassador Kritenbrink for making this a high
priority of the U.S. mission in Vietnam to attend to the case of
Michael, to visit Michael Nguyen in jail.
And what am I talking about?
Michael Nguyen, who was a citizen of the city of Orange, was on a
trip in July of 2018, as he frequently did during the past, to visit
relatives in Vietnam. On his way from the city of Da Nang to Ho Chi
Minh City, or what was known as Saigon, government security officials
removed him from his bus and took him into custody. He was detained; he
was imprisoned, repeatedly interrogated; and when the U.S. Consul and
Members of Congress asked why he was being charged, they were told,
almost a year ago: He is under investigation. When we complete the
investigation, we will tell you what the charge is.
Michael's family was not notified about his detention, even for 10
days after he was arrested. This violated the agreement between the
United States and Vietnam, which said that the Vietnamese Government
must notify the United States and our consul within 96 hours whenever
there is an arrest of an American citizen.
When he did not return home, Michael's family began to contact U.S.
Representatives, including myself from Orange County, asking for help,
but we learned very little in this past year about why Michael was
arrested and detained.
Some thought that the Vietnamese Government said that he had posted
something on Facebook about a plot to overthrow the government, but
they have not provided any evidence or any proof of this posting, just
what has been said.
As was pointed out earlier, he was arrested for violating article 109
of the Vietnamese penal code, which accuses people of conspiring to
overthrow the government. The penalty for just posting is from 14 years
to life imprisonment.
While he has received the indictment--he knows exactly why he is
being charged, what the issues are--neither his family, the U.S.
mission in Vietnam, or Members of Congress who have talked about this
over the past year have been told what are the specifics of the case or
what he has done.
He hasn't had contact with his family while he is in jail. He doesn't
have an attorney; he is not allowed to have an attorney; and most
likely, later this month, just before the case comes to court, he will
be assigned an attorney.
His wife works for UC Irvine Medical Center. They have four young
children. They don't know what is going on.
It is just another example of the egregious actions by the Government
of Vietnam.
I call upon the Government of Vietnam to close this case; return
Michael to his family. No American citizen should be charged because
they publicly criticize a government or fear that, when they visit
Vietnam, especially because of speaking out in the past, they are going
to be arrested, detained, and tried.
Mr. Speaker, it is time for the Members of Congress to have a serious
reevaluation of our economic and diplomatic relationships with Vietnam.
Vietnam should know that the U.S. Congress is watching its actions and
we expect Michael Nguyen to be freed and returned to his family.
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