USA TODAY International Edition
US student in prison in Vietnam after protest
The family of an American graduate student jailed in Vietnam a week ago for his role in an anti-government protest called on the Trump administration to ask Hanoi officials to resolve his case.
Will Nguyen, 32, of Los Angeles, was arrested June 10 at a demonstration against a proposal to create special economic zones that would foster Chinese investment in Vietnam.
Vietnamese officials said Nguyen stood on a police vehicle and rallied protesters to defy police. He suffered a head injury, cuts and bruises while being taken into custody. A video shows Nguyen, with a bloody face, being dragged along the pavement.
Nguyen’s sister, Victoria, said Sunday that a U.S. consular official in Ho Chi Minh City, where the protest took place, had visited her brother in prison and found him recovering from his injuries and in good spirits.
Relatives and friends are concerned about how long he’ll be held. “The Vietnamese government is allowed to hold him as long as they are investigating, during which time he has no rights to legal representation. This period could take months,’’ a family friend, Mary-Alice
Daniel, wrote in an email.
Three members of Congress from Southern California called for his release. In a statement, Reps. Alan Lowenthal, Jimmy Gomez and Lou Correa — all Democrats — said they would contact President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “to express the need for immediate action at the highest levels.’’
Nguyen is a graduate of Yale, where he majored in Southeast Asia studies. He recently completed work at the National University of Singapore for a master’s degree in public policy. He was in Vietnam on vacation, his family said.
He was one of dozens arrested last week protesting the proposed economic zones, which have heightened fears of Chinese interference.
Le Thi Thu Hang, spokeswoman for Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry, said last week that Nguyen was “being held for disturbing public order.” He was arrested after asking officers to move police vehicles blocking the crowd’s path, authorities said. When “his request was not met,” Nguyen climbed on a police car and urged others to cross through, the state-run Vietnam News Agency reported.