Viet Tan member jailed for 12 years on terrorism charges
11/11/19
A Vietnamese Australian man and five accomplices were sentenced
to various prison terms Monday for planning to overthrow the Vietnamese
government.
A Ho Chi
Minh City court sentenced Chau Van Kham, 70, to 12 years in jail on the charge
of "terrorism to oppose the people's administration." He will be
deported as soon as he finishes his jail term.
His
accomplices Nguyen Van Vien and Tran Van Quyen were jailed for 11 and 10 years
respectively for the same offence. Three others were found guilty of
"forging seals and/or documents of agencies and/or organizations" and
received sentences ranging from three to four years in jail.
According
to the indictment, Kham settled down in Australia and joined Viet Tan, an
organization Vietnam has classified as a terrorist group, in 2010. He held
senior positions in the organization led by U.S.-based Do Hoang Diem. The
organization works to eliminate the leadership of the Communist Party of
Vietnam and to overthrow the Vietnamese government.
Kham was
assigned by Diem to recruit and train new members, enter Vietnam to provide
financial support for the operation of Viet Tan and provoke demonstrations, the
court heard.
At the
end of 2018, Kham moved from Australia to Cambodia and used fake documents to
enter Vietnam.
He rented
a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City to live there and propagate principles of the
organization for new members. Among the people he recruited were Vien, a GrabBike
driver, and Quyen, a camera repairer.
Vien and
Quyen were taken to Cambodia to attend a training class conducted by Diem and
the Viet Tan organization. They received $600-900 from the group.
They
hired some people to make fake documents and papers for some members of the
organization to apply for local jobs, and were caught by police in the process.
Kham was
arrested in Ho Chi Minh City in January this year.
Investigators
under the Ministry of Public Security are expanding the investigation against
Diem and other accomplices who are living in the U.S.
Under the
Vietnamese law, the maximum penalty for conducting activities to overthrow the
government is death./.
All comments [ 9 ]
Van Kham Chau, 70, who is a retired baker from Sydney, is a member of democracy and human rights organisation, Viet Tan, which is considered a "terrorist organisation" by the Vietnamese Government.
Viet Tan is absolutely a terrorist group!
Chau was convicted of holding a senior position in the New South Wales chapter of Viet Tan, for financing terrorism and for recruiting new members for terror activities.
He is accused of spreading Viet Tan's message, using false documents to come through Cambodia to Vietnam and providing financial support for terrorism.
These individuals must be strictly punished for what they have done to harm the country's interests and security.
Police have arrested several people for their involvement in a terrorist organisation called Viet Tan, timely crushing the plots by the group of reactionaries in exile to sabotage the Vietnamese State.
For its activities against society, including terrorist activities against Vietnamese residing abroad, the Viet Tan has been categorised by Viet Nam as a terrorist organisation which must be stopped in order to ensure security for everyone.
Bravo Vietnam's security forces! Well done!
Viet Tan has trained its members in “militant activities” and has allegedly had operatives sneak into the country to incite violence and organize protests.
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