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Just hours before President Clinton arrived on his historic trip to Vietnam, a small airplane buzzed downtown Ho Chi Minh City and dropped thousands of anti-communist leaflets over the area, calling on the Vietnamese people to stand up and win their freedom. Ly Tong paid a pilot $10,000.00 dollars to fly him into Vietnam to drop the leaflets. During the flight Ly Tong videotaped the entire civic action. On returning to Thailand after the civic action he was arrested. The pilot who flew Ly Tong, facing 10 years in prison, claimed that the plane had been hijacked. The videotape, seized by Thai authorities, has not been released.
The Thai government indicted Ly Tong on 24 January 2001, for having violated several Thai laws, including the Kingdom's Criminal Code of 1956, the Wrongful Aviation Act of 1978, the Civil Aviation Act of 1954 and the Immigration Act of 1979. The Office of the Attorney General has reviewed the case and submitted it to the Court of Justice on 9 February 2001. Ly Tong protested the charges and the lack of due process by beginning a hunger strike. According to an April 11 press release from the Royal Thai Embassy, " Mr. Ly Tong's health was affected by his hunger strike in the middle of January 2001, he resumed taking fruits, non-solid foods and water since March 2001."
Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai told reporters "If we let people commit this crime and walk away freely, our friend, Vietnam, would be angry." There is pressure on Thailand, from its neighbor Vietnam, to deal harshly with Ly Tong, and to sacrifice justice on the alter of political expediency. Martin Luther King's observation, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" applies here and his words should be heeded by friends of freedom everywhere, and by the Cuban exile community especially.
We have not forgotten the breath of freedom and rebellion Ly Tong provided Cubans on January 1, 2000 when his message calling on the Cuban people to rise up and reclaim their liberty floated down from the sky over the island by the thousands, breaking however temporarily, the monopoly on print information inside of Cuba. The Cuban dictatorship was visited by Vietnamese Communist Party thugs Le Kha Phieu and tyrant Tran Duc Luong, but the Cuban people received a message of hope from the Vietnamese people through the courage and bravery of Ly Tong.
Throughout the world free Vietnamese have rallied in support of Ly Tong. State governments, like the Washington State Senate, have recognized the valiant efforts of Ly Tong and his struggle for freedom, democracy, and human rights. The trial being prepared for him in Thailand will begin in just a matter of days. All of us who value freedom should raise our voices to counter the pressure placed on the Thai government by the communist regime in Vietnam and demand justice for Ly Tong.
Black April marks the beginning of the enslavement of the Vietnamese people under a communist dictatorship, and began a period in which hundreds of thousands perished seeking freedom. Ly Tong's message of defiance and freedom is a cause worth defending. The image of Ly Tong in shackles being led into court should be an outrage to friends of liberty everywhere. Write to Secretary of State Powell, and Thai Attorney General Suchart Traiprasit and request that all steps be taken to free Ly Tong for his earliest return to the United States.
Join the Campaign to Free Ly Tong
For the Secretary of State: Secretary@state.gov
(The Bureau of Public Affairs, on behalf of the Secretary, reviews all emails sent to this address.) You also may write to or fax the Secretary of State:
Honorable Colin L. Powell
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
Fax: 202-261-8577
The main switchboard number and general address for the Department of State are as follows:
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
(202)647-4000
Chancery :
1024 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Suite 401
Washington, D.C. 20007
Tel : (202) 944-3600
Fax : (202) 944-3611
URL : http://www.thaiembdc.org
E-mail : thai.wsn@thaiembdc.org
Consular Office :
1024 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Suite 101
Washington, D.C. 20007
Tel : (202) 944-3608
Fax : (202) 944-3641
E-mail : consular@thaiembdc.org
Thai Attorney General Suchart Traiprasit info@attorney-general.go.th
ROYAL THAI CONSULATE-GENERAL
2801 PONCE DE LEON BLVD., SUITE 1170
CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
Tel : (305) 445-7577
Fax : (305) 446-9944
Honorary Consul-General, Mr. Frank D. Hall
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