https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va8o0P7bPCU&feature=channel&list=UL
Đồng thời cũng nêu ra bối cảnh và những diễn biến đang xảy ra tại Á Châu cũng như quốc tế liên quan tới công cuộc tranh đấu đòi hỏi nhân quyền và giải phóng dân tộc.
Buổi họp báo đã diễn ra thành công nhận được sự hoan nghênh, ủng hộ nồng nhiệt của quan khách tham dự bởi tấm lòng nhiệt huyết của toàn thể thành viên trong Phong Trào đặt biệt là sự dấn thân mãnh liệt của một người phụ nữ Viêt Nam với vóc dáng nhỏ bé nhưng có tấm lòng yêu nước thiết tha.
Dharamshala: - A Vietnamese freedom fighter
Dharamshala ngày 24/11/201, vào lúc 15 giờ địa phương có cuộc họp báo quốc tế của Liên Minh Việt Nam -TiBet,
Liên Minh giữa hai dân tộc Việt Nam và Tây Tạng đang cùng bị áp bức,thống trị bởi chế độ cộng sãn.
Cuộc họp báo diễn ra với sự tham dự của đại diện chính phủ Tây Tạng ( lưu vong).
Mr Penpa Tsering phát ngôn nhân của chính phủ, Mr KARMA CHOEPHEL đại diện Quốc Hội Tibet
Chúng tôi nhận thấy có hiện diện của Dr Natasha.Mehra – Bs Ấn Độ cùng nhiều đại diện cơ quan ban nghành của chính phủ và truyền thông báo chí.
Đồng thời cũng truyền âm trực tiếp qua hệ thống paltalk nhằm cập nhật tin tức đến đồng bào Quốc nội và Hải ngoại
Chiến sĩ Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh đến từ Pháp quốc là người sáng lập Phong Trào Liên Minh, GS Vương Đình Bách đến từ Hoa Kỳ.
Giáo Sư Bách đã giới thiệu tóm lược lịch sữ cũng như bối cảnh hiện tại của Viêt Nam và Tây Tạng.
Hai dân tộc cùng đang oằn mình chống chọi lại âm mưu thôn tính, đồng hóa và xóa sổ chủng tộc trên bảng đồ nhân chủng học của nhân loại. Mr Soepa Alias Phuntsok Wangdu,Chủ tịch Phong Trào Liên Minh,Mr Thupten Tenzin Phó Chủ tịch, và Mrs Ringzin thư ký .
Văn phòng của Liên Minh Việt nam -Tibet có trụ sở tại: Jogibara Road. Mcleod Ganj .Dharamshala.176219
Distt. Kangra ( HP). Tell: 9197.3692.3974
Email: vietnamtibetalliance@ gmail.
Web site: http: vietnamtibet.org
Trong cuộc họp báo Liên Minh Việt Nam -TiBet đã giới thiệu nguyên nhân và quá trình hình thành nên sự liên kết của hai dân tộc Việt Nam -Tibet.Liên Minh đã nêu lên tình trạng tự thiêu ngày càng gia tăng của người dân Tây Tạng để phản đối nhà cầm quyền Trung cộng vi phạm nhân quyền trầm trọng cũng như sự đàn áp tôn giáo ngày càng khốc liệt.
Đồng thời cũng nêu ra bối cảnh và những diễn biến đang xảy ra tại Á Châu cũng như quốc tế liên quan tới công cuộc tranh đấu đòi hỏi nhân quyền và giải phóng dân tộc.
Buổi họp báo đã diễn ra thành công nhận được sự hoan nghênh, ủng hộ nồng nhiệt của quan khách tham dự bởi tấm lòng nhiệt huyết của toàn thể thành viên trong Phong Trào đặt biệt là sự dấn thân mãnh liệt của một người phụ nữ Viêt Nam với vóc dáng nhỏ bé nhưng có tấm lòng yêu nước thiết tha.
Người đàn bà đã từng trải hơn 13 năm tù trên con đường đấu tranh vì lý tưởng tự do của Tổ Quốc
Chiến sĩ Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh
phóng viên
Quang Thiên Phong ghi nhanh
Freedom for Tibet will Set the Stage for Freedom for All Humankind
TỰ DO CHO TÂY TẠNG SẼ LÀ TỰ DO CHO TOÀN THỂ NHÂN LOẠI
Dharamshala -
Một người phụ nữ Việt Nam đã tuyên bố là bà quyết định tự thiêu để phản đối chính sách cai trị vô nhân đạo
của tập đoàn Cộng sản tại Việt Nam ngaỳ hôm nay tham dự Buổi Lễ khánh thành Văn Phòng " Liên minh Việt Nam-
Tây Tạng đấu tranh cho Tự Do " tại thủ phủ McLeod Gang, Ấn Độ .
Bà Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh , 56 tuổi là mẹ cũa bốn đứa con , là người đã từng bị tù tại Anh Quốc ,Pháp , Hoa Kỳ và
Việt Nam về tôi chống lại chế độ Cộng Sản đã nói chuyện mở đầu và tiếp theo là lời phát biểu của vị Chủ Tịch Phong
Trào là ông Soepa Alias Wangdu vào ngaỳ Thứ Bảy 06 Tháng 10 , 2012 vừa qua .
Trong phần Khai mạc Buổi Lễ này , Bà Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh cho biết là vào năm 2001 , đã tự chế xăng vào người
toan tự thiêu tại Phòng Khánh tiết của Khách sạn Mariott , San Francisco , Hoa Kỳ trong lúc Phó Thủ Tướng Việt Cộng
Nguyễn Tấn Dũng đang họp bàn với các thương gia Hoa Kỳ về thương mại giữa Việt Nam và Hoa Kỳ .
Bà Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh nói : " Chúng ta đều biết rõ là bất kỳ một Tổ chức nào muốn tạo nên SỨC MẠNH và UY THẾ
thì cần phải có người Lãnh Tụ tài giỏi biết Hy sinh cho Lý Tưởng đang theo đuổi . Chúng tôi là một Tổ chức Đấu tranh
vì thế Liên minh Việt Nam - Tây Tạng đương nhiên sẽ trở thành một biểu tượng lý tưởng ..
Chúng ta hết sức cố gắng để VInh Danh 54 người Tây Tạng đã Tự thiêu hy sinh thân xác mình vì Lý Tưởng TỰ DO cho Tibet.
Ngoài ra còn một Danh sách rất dài ghi danh những người tình nguyện Tự thiêu vì Lý tưởng Tự Do cho Tây Tạng .
" Tự Do cho Tây Tạng sẽ là điểm bắt đầu cho Tự Do của toàn Nhân loại . "
Buổi lễ được sự tham dự nồng nhiệt của nhiều thành viên thuộc Liên Minh Việt Nam - Tây Tạng . Ngoài ra còn có sự tham
dự của vị Phó Chủ Tịch Liên Minh là ông Thupten Tenzin , vị Cố vấn Tối cao của Liên Minh là Đức Lạt Ma Ngawang Woeber , cô
Thư ký Ringzin , Thủ quỹ cô Passang .Đặc biệt còn có sự tham dự qua hệ thống Skype với ông Nguyễn Tạ Quang , Hoa Kỳ , ông
Trần Quốc Việt , Việt Nam và cô Hoàng Hoa , Âu Châu .
Để kết thúc phần trình bầy , Bà Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh nói : " Bước quan trọng kế tiếp là sẽ chọn những vị Lãnh đạo mới cho Liên minh
hầu tầm hoạt động sẽ được mở rộng hơn . "
Phóng viên ghi nhanh
Sophie Jay, The Tibet Post International, Monday, 15 October 2012
Dharamshala: - A Vietnamese freedom fighter
who planned to self-immolate to protest the communist regime in her country attended the opening of an office of a Vietnamese-Tibetan campaign group in McLeod Ganj, India
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh, 56, who has been jailed in Britain, The United States (US) and Vietnam for anti-Vietnamese government activities spoke at the Vietnam-Tibet Alliance Fighting for Freedom's opening ceremony alongside the organisation's president, Soepa Alias Phuntsok Wangdu, on Saturday, October 6.
Addressing the meeting, the mother of four, who in 2001 attempted to set herself alight in the ballroom of San Francisco's Marriot hotel during a visit from Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Tan Dung, to protest the U.S.-Vietnam trade agreement, said: "I have and will always support you in any way I can.
"We all know that any organisation will gather more strength and consolidation when its leaders are best endowed with spirits of commitment, devotion and sacrifice.
"We are a fighting team with a dream and motto. The Vietnam - Tibet Alliance Fighting for Freedom organisation is always our ideal.
"We will do our best to honour our 54 Tibetan self-immolation heroes who offered their lives for the ultimate and sacred goal - freedom for Tibet. There are many Tibetans who are voluntarily putting their names on a list of self-immolation for the freedom of Tibet.
"Freedom for Tibet will set the stage for Freedom for all humankind."
The ceremony was attended by a number of Vietnam-Tibet Alliance Fighting for Freedom staff including Vice President, Thupten Tenzin, Advisor, Lama Ngawang Woeber, Secretary, Ms Ringzin, and Treasurer, Mrs Passang. The attendees were also joined via Skype by members Quang Nguyen from the US, Trần Quốc Việt from Vietnam and Hoàng Hoa from Europe.
Ms Ngoc Hanh announced that the next important task is to select new team leaders for the organisation.
THE OFFICIAL MEETING BETWEEN FREEDOM-FIGHTER NGUYEN THI NGOC HANH WITH DR. LOBSANG SANGAY – TIBET MINISTER IN HIS OFFICE AT DHARAMSALA, INDIA
Mrs Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh and Tibet Minister Dr. Lobsang Sangay
Dharamsala, November 09, 2012
...
THE OFFICIAL MEETING BETWEEN FREEDOM-FIGHTER NGUYEN THI NGOC HANH WITH DR. LOBSANG SANGAY – TIBET MINISTER IN HIS OFFICE AT DHARAMSALA, INDIA
Mrs Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh and Tibet Minister Dr. Lobsang Sangay
The date of November 09, 2012 is known as “Good day and Prosperous day” in Tibet. At 5:00 P.M., a formal group from the “Vietnam-Tibet Alliance Fighting for Freedom”, including Freedom-Fighter Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh from France, the founder of “Vietnam-Tibet Alliance Fighting for Freedom”, Mr. Phuntsok Wangdu, the President of “Vietnam-Tibet Alliance Fighting for Freedom”, and Mr. Thupten Tenzin, the Vice-President of “Vietnam-Tibet Alliance Fighting for Freedom”, met with Dr. Lobsang Sangay at the Minister Office in Dharamshala, India, 176215 Distt., Kangra (H.P.). Also in attendance to this official meeting was Mrs. Dicki Chhoyang, Secretary of State, graduated from Montreal, Canada University.
The meeting went very well and was successful.
Dr. Lobsang Sangay shared his concerns with Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh about the invasions of Vietnam and Tibet by China. Mrs. Dicki Chhoyang fully understood the political situation of Vietnam. She emphasized that Vietnam could not be dominated by China in any way. The Vietnamese history clearly strengthens her point. She knew that Vietnam has never surrendered to China for thousands of years. Vietnam also conquered the French invasion. She concluded that now is the time for Vietnam to stand up, that there was no other choice.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh expressed her admiration to Dr. Lobsang Sangay, an intellectual who was a Professor at Harvard University. Dr. Lobsang Sangay refused the wealthy high-class life so he could devote his full time to work at strengthening and building up his country. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh said, “Dr. Lobsang Sangay is really a bright example for Tibet and also for the people in the world who love their own countries.”
With modesty, Dr. Lobsang Sangay said that he must work even harder to get what was needed for the countries to get Freedom, to help those countries that depend on him. He also showed his concern for Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh because the cold weather in Tibet could effect the health of people.
To response, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh said with a big smile, “Thank you Dr. Sangay, I feel very warm because I can see the big welcome from you to bring about a better life for our two countries Vietnam and Tibet. I am sure PEACE will come to these countries in a day not very far away.”
Dr. Lobsang Sangay wholeheartedly agreed with this remark because it is the hope for both Vietnam and Tibet. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh emphasized that this is not a hope, but it will be reality soon. Some day in the near future, Freedom will be brightened in Lhasha, from Himalaya to Prestley, in the Paracels Islands, and also to the whole world.
There were a couple of questions that the Secretary of State Mrs. Dicki Chhoyang asked Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh:
Mrs Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh, DR. Lobsang Sangay, Mrs Dicki Chhoyang,and Mr. Phuntsok Wangdu, the President of “Vietnam-Tibet Alliance
1 – The actual number of Vietnamese living abroad especially in France, and how many of these people who show actual concern about political situation of Vietnam ?
2 – Regarding the young Vietnamese who grew up in Vietnam and in different countries, how many of them still think about and have concern about Vietnam?
In response to question 1, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh said that by her understanding, the population of Vietnamese living overseas is reported to be around 4 million, with about two thousand living in France. They live in different countries, building up Vietnamese communities and Associations. However, there is no way to have an accurate number, because of the Vietnamese people living in so many different countries and places. Some of them show their fight, but others keep their silence.
In response to question 2, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh said that the Vietnamese people, no matter where they live, they have always kept their connection together very close, and that they all strive to get Freedom for Vietnam.
It has been more than half a century since Ho Chi Minh brought into Vietnam the Communist concept, and more than 37 years since the Communist took over Vietnam. Today, Vietnam is a poor and weak country, but we believe that we will still continue to fight to get back our country the strength and wealth that Vietnam had before 1975. There is agreement that there is a poor relationship between the Communist government and the citizens of Vietnam, but we will stand side by side next to each other to get Freedom and a good life back to our citizens.
Mrs. Dicki Chhoyang, Secretary of State and Mrs Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh
Towards the end of the meeting, both Dr. Lobsang Sangay and the Secretary of State Mrs. Dicki Chhoyang asked Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh, do you believe that someday your people will get back the Freedom for your country?”
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh answered, “Yes, this will happen definitely because the brutality and inhumanity cannot exist anywhere in this world today.”
This official meeting lasted for more than thirty minutes. At the end of the meeting, Dr. Lobsang Sangay expressed his appreciation towards the visit of Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh, and he desired the cooperation between Vietnam and Tibet to get closer and closer in the future. Freedom-Fighter Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh also paid respect to the Honorable Dat Lai Lama, and also prayed for the recent people of Tibet who underwent self-immolation.
This meeting will wake up the conscience of humankind. Tibet must have freedom. It is the only way, if not, the whole world will soon be destroyed by China as mentioned in the book “Death by China.”
The meeting was over by 5:32 P.M. Dr. Lobsang Sangay and Secretary of State Mrs. Dicki Chhoyang wish to see Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh on November 16-18 at the “World Community Support Tibet” meeting to be held at McLeod, Dharamsala, India with the presence of the Honorable Dat Lai Lama and many other important persons and representatives of the world.
Mrs. Dicki Chhoyang, Secretary of State, Mrs Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh, Dr. Lobsang Sangay
At this important meeting, Freedom-Fighter Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh handed to Dr. Lobsang Sangay a document, “The Final Act of 02/13/1973, A Solution for Vietnam?” by Lam Chan Tho, BSC, A, and Ing. MBA, LLB, DESS, EL.
This important document was carefully read by Dr. Lobsang Sangay.
By reporter Thupten Tenzin
Dharamsala, November 09, 2012
Mr. Thupten Tenzin, the Vice-President of “Vietnam-Tibet Alliance Fighting for Freedom
A FEW REMARKS ABOUT FREEDOM-FIGHTER " NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC HẠNH" FOUNDER OF THE "VIETNAM - TIBET ALLIANCE FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM
Lobsang Wangyal with Vietnamese Freedom fighter NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC HẠNH during Miss Himalaya Final at TIPA, Dharamshala, India
Freedom - Fighter NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC HẠNH was born on June 22 , 1956 at Kiên Giang, South Việt Nam in a family who has the tradition of fighting for Freedom of Việt Nam. Ngọc Hạnh is the fifth child in a family of six children. Her father spent his entire life fighting against the Communism of Viet Nam. She has been learning about this spirit since her childhood. In the last days of April 1975, her father was killed by the Communist. Her two older brothers who served in the South Viet Nam Army also lost their lives by the Việt Cộng. Her niece and nephew were killed in a bomb shooting by the Việt Cộng.
She has grown up and become more mature after these bitter experiences on the Shame Day in April 1975, Ngọc Hạnh tried many times to escape from the South of Việt Nam to a free country with the hope of joining with others in the fight against these Việt Cộng. She dreams to bring the PEACE back someday to her fellow citizens. But luck never came to her in these times. She had been arrested and served her sentence "Trying to get Freedom" in the jails in Việt Nam. She was not even 20 years old, very young at that time to be jailed. Her dreams of freedom to Việt Nam seemed impossible while under the pressure of the Communist, she realized she must get somehow find a way to leave Việt Nam as soon as possible in order to build up an organization to fight against the Communist, even though she must pay with her own life. After nearly 6 years in the prison in Việt Nam, she was released and finally was able to escape to a free country in the early years of 1990, resettling in France with her small family.
Ngọc Hạnh will never forget the terrible years her family lived in at the refugees camp in Thailand with minimum conveniences. However her spirit was always extremely high with the hope that someday she will be able to destroy the Communism ruling her country.
Since first arriving to France, Ngọc Hạnh was already involved in the activities with the organizations who wanted to help the Vietnamese refugees to adjust to the new life in a new country. She worked together very closely with these organizations, joining the singing group and teaching Vietnamese language to the youths. However, the love to her country of Việt Nam had not stopped at this point, she moved on by co-operating with other Vietnamese in the bigger issues. She is very active in the demonstration against the Vietnamese Communist in France, going against all of their efforts to stop our fight for freedom. We cannot count how many times she had removed the Vietnamese Communist flag "Red with yellow star" in the public areas and destroyed them. She had been arrested constantly by the France police because of these activities. Her name became more and more well-known with each passing day. Her spirit is still going up day after day.
In August 31 , 2000, she had been arrested again by the Police in London, England due to her action of trying to burn down the Việt Cộng Embassy. Unfortunately, her job was not able to be completed at that time. Although she did not cause any actual serious damage to the Việt Cộng Embassy, what she really did was give a severe "Warning" to the Việt Cộng. She was in jail for one year but after that she was released without any sentence on her file. A very sad point is that Ngọc Hạnh only noticed later on that she had been used by a few Vietnamese " friends " in London. What a bitter experience to her that she will remember for the rest of her life.
After a short time she came back to her family in a small town near Paris, again she felt that she cannot live in a quiet life, the love for her country Việt Nam is too great, their citizens asked her to continue her mission for freedom. On .December 13 , 2001 , Ngọc Hạnh was flying to the United States of America with a friend on the occasion that Vice Premier Nguyễn Tấn Dũng of the Communist Việt Nam was having a business meeting at a Marriott Hotel in San Francisco with some American businessmen to create some activities in Việt Nam. She planned to use herself as a torch to raise up the fighting spirit for a Free Việt Nam .
However the smell of gasoline carried by Ngọc Hạnh in a small room in the Hotel was discovered by the Security team. Ngọc Hạnh was arrested immediately. In front of the Jury and the court, Ngọc Hạnh refused an offer proposed by her lawyer that if she would accept a small offense such as "disturbing the public safety" then she would be released and go back to France in a few months. She said very clearly at the court that she wants her action today to be kept in the File of Justice of the United States forever to waken up the Free countries in the world about the brutality of the Communist.
Ngọc Hạnh is very "happily and proudly" accepted a five years sentences. She was adored and respected by the Vietnamese Community all over the world because of what she had done. Her voice will never be forgotten and will still live there forever. Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh is our heroine, we are very proud of her . She is a very precious gift that God gave to our Vìetnamese country. Ngọc Hạnh , you will never be forgotten! The court secretary was crying like he never cried in his life when he typed the details of the court on that day. Judge Hamilton for the first time in her Judical career got a lot of emotion and respect for the sacrifice of a small Vietnamese woman gave for her country under the domination of the Communist. She had to give to Ngọc Hạnh 5 years in prison by the law and especially as it was asked by Ngọc Hạnh. After the decision of the Judge, Ngọc Hạnh waved at the Vietnamese crowd that came to support her with a big smile.
There is a proverb in Việt Nam that says, "One day in prison is as long as a thousand years in normal life." However the time passed by and Ngọc Hạnh was released and set free to go back to France with her family. This is September 07 , 2006 . On the day Ngọc Hạnh was sentenced for 5 years in prison, she was in her early 40s, but when she got Free she was almost 50 years old. Staying with her children and family for a very short time, she again became very worried and concerned about the situation in Việt Nam. One more time, she wants to go back to her own road that she chose for herself which is "I must do something for my country of Việt Nam. There will be no more Communist in Việt Nam." She once again joined in the activities with the organization against the Vietnamese Communist in France who have the same goal to Free Việt Nam.
On April 07 , 2008 , in the ceremony of carrying the torch of Olympic in Paris , Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh was arrested by the Paris Police force because she is against the Red China with its brutal politic willing to rule the world with its Communism . This event is rapidly spread out to the whole world very shortly after through different communications with a short U-Tube in which Ms. Ngọc Hạnh shouted very loud " Down the Communist ! Down the Vietnamese Communist ! " .
Along with the straight fight against the Communist, Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh is also a person with lot of emotions to her fatherland Vietnam . She is very famous with the poems under the name LÊ CHÂN filled with tears and suffers for her fellow-citizens who are still living in Vietnam under the Communism regime. Ngọc Hạnh took a bigger step by founding "The movement of Vietnamese Women Fighting for Freedom for Viet Nam" in the year of 2009 through a big announcement in Paris on October 03 , 2010 with lots of people and different organizations joining. This organization will work together with all the other organizations with the same wish to end the Vietnamese Communist in Việt Nam. It is a big day for this new organization and we have a lot of confidence to Ms. Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh and that her fight against the Vietnamese Communist will end in the very near future.
After that, Ngọc Hạnh continued to get in touch and cooperate with the leaders of different countries in Asia, India who have the same dream to get Freedom and Democracy. A big note here is that Ngọc Hạnh was also the founder of the "VietNam -Tibet Alliance fighting for Freedom." The office is in Dharamsala and its activities are still on the way to growing bigger and bigger with the support of a lot of well-known people in Tibet working non-stop days and nights. Lately, our Republic of South Viet Nam flags are appearing all over Tibet and India in the occasion wherever having the meeting, rally or demonstration against China, or protest of the Tibet monks self-immolations. We are humble with HOPE FOR A GOOD FUTURE for both Viet Nam and Tibet.
A famous Vietnamese writer TRƯỜNG SƠN LÊ XUÂN NHỊ a few years ago said: "Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh - The only hope for us - Viet Nam." We hope and wish the Fight for Freedom of Việt Nam by Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh will brighten someday in the near future with a strong wish together "SEE YOU IN VIET NAM WITHOUT COMMUNIST."
Nguyễn Tạ Quang Former South Viet Nam Navy Commander
Vietnamese protester guilty of attempted arson and assault, cleared on terrorism charge SAN FRANCISCO - A federal jury in San Francisco found Ngoc Hanh Dang Nguyen, a Vietnamese refugee and anti-Communist, guilty on Friday of two charges from her attempt last year to set herself on fire in front of a visiting Vietnamese official. After deliberating over two days, the jury found Ngoc Hanh guilty of attempted arson and assault of a federal officer, but not guilty of attempted acts of terrorism and offering violence toward a foreign official. She will be sentenced in U.S. District Court on Dec. 18. She faces five to 20 years in prison on the arson conviction and a year on the assault charge.
During the two-week trial, prosecutors said Ngoc Hanh, a mother of four who lives in Bretagne, France, walked into a ballroom in a San Francisco hotel on Dec. 13, 2001, carrying a plastic gallon jug of gasoline, two homemade torches and a cigarette lighter. FBI agents, smelling gasoline on her, tackled her as she struggled to light the gas-soaked torches. In her testimony, sometimes punctuated by anti-Communist oratory, Ngoc Hanh said she had planned to burn her self before the visiting Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Tan Dung, to protest the U.S.-Vietnam trade agreement and to denounce human rights violations in Vietnam.
But prosecutors said her plan was to harm the prime minister and burn the ballroom. The year before, she had tried something similar in Paris and had thrown a Molotov cocktail at the Vietnamese Embassy in London. This history, prosecutors said, was an indication of her motives. "Self-immolation was not part of the defendant's plan,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Waldinger said during closing arguments. "This is not about the wisdom of the U.S. relations with Vietnam today,'' he said. "It's about the rule of law. In this country, you don't commit violent acts.'' Three dozen supporters from the Bay Area and Southern California, wearing yellow and red scarves symbolizing the old South Vietnam flag, burst into applause when the court clerk announced the first of the not guilty verdicts.
Ngoc Hanh, 46, wearing a yellow silk aodai, the traditional Vietnamese clothing, only nodded in response and smiled a little. As she was escorted out of the courtroom by federal agents, she waved to the audience. "Our support and our duty to her, our hero, has not changed,'' said Ky Ngo, a San Jose resident who acted as a spokesman for the group of supporters. Ngo and others said they accept the verdict because the trial in a U.S. court gave Ngoc Hanh a broad platform when she took the witness stand this week. "She won the case last Tuesday because she told the world what she believes, that she is willing to sacrifice her self for freedom,'' Ngo said. "She is us and we are her and that's why our support of her is not changed.''
Ngoc Hanh, known to her anti-Communist supporters as "The Flame of Liberty,'' has a following in France, Australia, Holland and the U.S. To them, her attempt to sacrifice her life for a cause is in keeping with the tradition of the Vietnamese culture. She was initially charged with an accomplice, Cuong Anh Pham, 53, a French citizen from Paris. But Pham pleaded guilty to a charge of offering violence to a foreign official. He was sentenced to time served and deported to France.
During her testimony, Ngoc Hanh, holding a ballpoint pen on her left hand as a stand in for a torch, said her plan on that December day was to make the ultimate protest: self-immolation. "To the businesses of the U.S., I would say, `I want to use my body to make a statement,' '' she said. "You had helped the Communist Party oppress my people.'' "And to the Communist Party, I would say, `I represent your victims and I denounce your regime.' '' But not everyone is convinced. Divided support for her in America's Vietnamese community, usually united on the issue of anti-Communism, reflects a sea change in the evolving political life of Vietnamese refugees. By Jessie Mangaliman - San Jose Mercury News - October 11, 2002. http://www.mindfully.
Vietnamese Refugee's Trial Draws Crowd BILL WALLACE / SF Chronicle 5oct02
Bay immigrants call defendant a selfless freedom fighter The federal trial of a Vietnamese refugee arrested during a demonstration in San Francisco against the Hanoi government last year has caused a furor among many members of the Bay Area's Vietnamese immigrant community.
Thousands have signed petitions calling for the release of Ngoc Hanh Nguyen, 46, who was arrested Dec. 13, 2001, on charges of attempted arson, conspiracy, terrorism, resisting arrest and endangering a foreign dignitary after she allegedly tried to turn herself into a human torch during a speech by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
At least 100 demonstrators protested the charges against Ngoc Hanh when her trial began Monday, and dozens have packed the courtroom each day since then.
Vietnamese Americans who are strongly anti-communist deny that Ngoc Hanh is a terrorist. Instead, they describe her as a freedom fighter who was only trying to raise public awareness of human rights violations in her former homeland.
"By trying to set fire to her body, she was trying to start a flame of freedom for the Vietnamese people against the communists," said Ky Ngo, an adviser for the San Jose-based Vietnamese American Community of Northern California.
"She did not intend to do a criminal act," he said. "What she did she did for freedom for the 89 million Vietnamese in Vietnam, and to show that 58,000 American soldiers did not die in vain."
Support for Ngoc Hanh has been particularly strong among older Vietnamese who fought in the war or endured hardships under the communist postwar government before fleeing to the United States. For many of them, the war has never really ended.
Federal prosecutors argue that Ngoc Hanh's actions endangered the deputy prime minister and others present. "She obviously posed a threat to the individuals that were seated around," State Department agent Orlando Velasquez told the jury.
Ngoc Hanh's attorneys argue that her act was symbolic and that she intended no harm to others. Ngoc Hanh fled her native country in 1989 after serving six years in a Vietnamese prison for an earlier attempt to leave.
Ngoc Hanh, who now lives with her husband and children in France, allegedly doused herself with gasoline and tried to light herself on fire during the Vietnamese official's appearance. She has been held without bail since her arrest last year and could be sentenced up to five years in prison if convicted.
An associate who participated in the protest at the hotel, Cuong Ahn Pham, 53, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of harassing a foreign official in May and has been sent back to France.
Ngoc Hanh was convicted of an attempt to firebomb the Vietnamese Consulate in Paris with a Molotov cocktail two years ago and was forced to undergo mental health treatment. The Vietnamese government has called the protest in December an act of terrorism.
As she sat in the San Francisco courtroom of U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton this week, Ngoc Hanh looked more like a Vietnamese studies instructor than a terrorist. A short, slightly built woman with a pixie haircut, dressed in traditional Vietnamese ao dai -- a long, high-collared silk tunic worn over trousers -- she listened intently through a headset to a translation of the testimony against her.
During testimony, prosecution witnesses said Ngoc Hanh and Pham entered the ballroom of the Marriott on Dec. 13 during a speech by the deputy prime minister. Both of them smelled strongly of gasoline and while the speech continued, Ngoc Hanh strode to the front of the auditorium, drew a container of gas from a bag she was carrying and tried to ignite herself, several witnesses said. She was stopped by security personnel who rushed to intercept her.
Ngoc Hanh's arrest and prosecution has drawn close scrutiny from many members of the Vietnamese immigrant community from the very beginning.
Every day this week, dozens of Ngoc Hanh's elderly supporters packed the courtroom to watch her trial, many of them wearing American flag pins and buttons, patches and shawls bearing the yellow field and three red stripes of the old Vietnam Republic flag. "Her name is a well-known name in the Vietnamese community," said Ky, who has helped organize support for Ngoc Hanh among local immigrants. "She is known as the only Vietnamese freedom fighter willing to sacrifice her career, family and life for the cause of freedom." E-mail Bill Wallace at bwallace@sfchronicle.com
DAVID KRAVETS / AP 1oct02 SAN FRANCISCO
Trial begins of protester said to attempt assault on Vietnam official DAVID KRAVETS / AP 1oct02 SAN FRANCISCO -- A jury trial began in federal court here Tuesday for a woman accused of trying to assault Vietnam's deputy prime minister at a San Francisco business meeting. The defendant, a Vietnamese citizen who lives in France, claims she was trying to set herself aflame to protest the Vietnam government, her attorneys told jurors in U.S. District Court. Ngoc Hanh Dang Nguyen, 46, is accused of attempting violence on Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung, attempted arson and other counts as the official addressed business leaders at the Marriott Hotel here last year.
Prosecutors say on Dec. 13, when the prime minister was speaking at the hotel ballroom, Ngoc Hanh entered carrying a black satchel and reeked of gasoline. They said she walked to the front of the room, opened the bag containing a jug of gasoline and a torch. As she struggled to light the gas-soaked torches with a lighter, authorities tackled her. "She obviously posed a threat to the individuals that were seated around," State Department agent Orlando Velasquez testified.
Wearing traditional Vietnamese clothing, the defendant listened to testimony via an interpreter in a heavily guarded courtroom requiring onlookers to go through two metal detectors. About two dozen people watched from the gallery.
On Monday, during jury selection, more than 100 people protested Ngoc Hanh's prosecution outside the courthouse.
Ngoc Hanh became a hero to some Vietnamese anti-Communists two years ago, after she tried to set herself ablaze in front the Vietnamese Embassy in Paris to protest Communist-ruled Vietnam.
Four months later, she threw a Molotov cocktail at the Vietnamese Embassy in London. She pleaded guilty to an arson charge and received mental health treatment as her sentence.
Arrested with Ngoc Hanh during the Dec. 13 incident in San Francisco was Cuong Ahn Pham, a French citizen. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempting to threaten or harass a foreign official and was sentenced to four months in prison. The trial of Ngoc Hanh continues this week. She faces at least five years in prison if convicted on all charges. She is being held without bail. The case is United States v. Ngoc Hanh, 01-0485. http://www.sfgate.
Vietnamese refugee's trial draws crowd Bay immigrants call defendant a selfless freedom fighter Bill Wallace,Chronicle Staff Writer Published 04:00 a.m., Saturday, October 5, 2002 Page 1 of 1 The federal trial of a Vietnamese refugee arrested during a demonstration in San Francisco against the Hanoi government last year has caused a furor among many members of the Bay Area's Vietnamese immigrant community.
Thousands have signed petitions calling for the release of Ngoc Hanh Nguyen, 46, who was arrested Dec. 13, 2001, on charges of attempted arson, conspiracy, terrorism, resisting arrest and endangering a foreign dignitary after she allegedly tried to turn herself into a human torch during a speech by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
At least 100 demonstrators protested the charges against Ngoc Hanh when her trial began Monday, and dozens have packed the courtroom each day since then.
Vietnamese Americans who are strongly anti-communist deny that Ngoc Hanh is a terrorist. Instead, they describe her as a freedom fighter who was only trying to raise public awareness of human rights violations in her former homeland.
"By trying to set fire to her body, she was trying to start a flame of freedom for the Vietnamese people against the communists," said Ky Ngo, an adviser for the San Jose-based Vietnamese American Communityof Northern California.
"She did not intend to do a criminal act," he said. "What she did she did for freedom for the 18 million Vietnamese in Vietnam, and to show that 58,000 American soldiers did not die in vain."
Support for Ngoc Hanh has been particularly strong among older Vietnamese who fought in the war or endured hardships under the communist postwar government before fleeing to the United States. For many of them, the war has never really ended.
Federal prosecutors argue that Ngoc Hanh's actions endangered the deputy prime minister and others present. "She obviously posed a threat to the individuals that were seated around," State Department agent Orlando Velasquez told the jury.
Ngoc Hanh's attorneys argue that her act was symbolic and that she intended no harm to others. Ngoc Hanh fled her native country in 1989 after serving six years in a Vietnamese prison for an earlier attempt to leave.
Ngoc Hanh, who now lives with her husband and children in France, allegedly doused herself with gasoline and tried to light herself on fire during the Vietnamese official's appearance. She has been held without bail since her arrest last year and could be sentenced up to five years in prison if convicted.
An associate who participated in the protest at the hotel, Cuong Anh Pham, 53, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of harassing a foreign official in May and has been sent back to France.
Ngoc Hanh was convicted of an attempt to firebomb the Vietnamese Consulate in Paris with a Molotov cocktail two years ago and was forced to undergo mental health treatment. The Vietnamese government has called the protest in December an act of terrorism.
As she sat in the San Francisco courtroom of U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton this week, Ngoc Hanh looked more like a Vietnamese studies instructor than a terrorist. A short, slightly built woman with a pixie haircut, dressed in traditional Vietnamese ao dai -- a long, high-collared silk tunic worn over trousers -- she listened intently through a headset to a translation of the testimony against her.
During testimony, prosecution witnesses said Ngoc Hanh and Pham entered the ballroom of the Marriott on Dec. 13 during a speech by the deputy prime minister. Both of them smelled strongly of gasoline and while the speech continued, Ngoc Hanh strode to the front of the auditorium, drew a container of gas from a bag she was carrying and tried to ignite herself, several witnesses said. She was stopped by security personnel who rushed to intercept her.
Ngoc Hanh's arrest and prosecution has drawn close scrutiny from many members of the Vietnamese immigrant community from the very beginning.
Every day this week, dozens of Ngoc Hanh's elderly supporters packed the courtroom to watch her trial, many of them wearing American flag pins and buttons, patches and shawls bearing the yellow field and three red stripes of the old Vietnam Republic flag. "Her name is a well-known name in the Vietnamese community," said Ky, who has helped organize support for Ngoc Hanh among local immigrants. "She is known as the only Vietnamese freedom fighter willing to sacrifice her career, family and life for the cause of freedom."
However, Ngoc Hanh's case is not a matter of universal concern among Vietnamese immigrants. A spokesman for Nguoi Viet, a Vietnamese language daily newspaper with 18,000 readers published in the "Little Saigon" community of Westminster, Orange County, said the paper did not cover the trial but has published stories on Ngoc Hanh's case and has no designated spokesman, said Hao-Nhien Vu, the paper's corporate secretary.
Vietnamese protester gets 5 years / She carried torches, gasoline to official's speech at S.F. hotel Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Published 04:00 a.m., Thursday, January 30, 2003 2003-01-30 04:00:00 PDT San Francisco -- Watched by dozens of applauding supporters, an anti-communist Vietnamese refugee was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday for attempted arson at a San Francisco hotelduring a speech by a Vietnamese official. Ngoc-Hanh Thi Dang Nguyen testified during her trial last fall that she meant to burn herself to death as a political protest and did not intend to harm Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung, who was speaking to a trade delegation.
But federal prosecutors said Nguyen had been a menace to Dzung and everyone around her in the Marriott Hotel ballroom, where she was arrested in December 2001 while holding torches, a cigarette lighter and a gasoline container.
A jury acquitted her of terrorism and attempting to commit violence against a foreign official, but convicted her of attempted arson of the hotel, a crime that carries a five-year mandatory sentence. She was also convicted of assaulting the federal agents who arrested her.
Nguyen, who is in her mid-40s, spent five years in a Vietnamese prison before fleeing the country in 1987 and has lived in Paris since 1991. She has engaged in other protests, setting herself on fire outside the Vietnamese Embassy in Paris and, according to prosecutors, throwing a Molotov cocktail at the Vietnamese Embassy in London. She and a companion flew to San Francisco a few days before Dzung's speech. In court Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton told Nguyen that the sentence was probably too harsh for the crime, but the law gave her no choice.
Nguyen made no apologies in a 15-minute speech before her sentencing, saying through an interpreter that she was "the victim of the communist regime" and was being sentenced "only for speaking out." She blamed her nation's plight on the U.S. peace movement of the 1960s, Jane Fonda, former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, members of Congress who approved a trade agreement with Vietnam and, most of all, the late communist leader Ho Chi Minh.
"You can jail me, but you cannot take away the love I have for my country," she told Hamilton, who wished her luck before she was led away. After a demonstration in front of the courthouse demanding freedom for Nguyen, about 80 members of the Bay Area Vietnamese community attended the hearing. Many applauded when she turned during her oration and raised her arms in salute to them. http://www.sfgate.com/
Ngoc-Hanh Thi Dang Nguyen, who had been found guilty of attempted arson, was sentenced to five years in federal prison in January 2003. She testified that she planned to burn herself as an act of protest and intended no harm to Nguyen Tan Dzung, who was addressing a trade delegation at the Marriott Hotel ballroom. Nguyen's attorney argued that prosecutors had violated her rights by waiting until late in the trial to turn over a list of witnesses who would have supported Nguyen's testimony about planned self-immolation. But the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the witnesses would not have contradicted the prosecution's evidence, which included Nguyen's plan to attend a San Jose event after the San Francisco speech.http://www.sfgate.com/
But federal prosecutors said Nguyen had been a menace to Dzung and everyone around her in the Marriott Hotel ballroom, where she was arrested in December 2001 while holding torches, a cigarette lighter and a gasoline container.
A jury acquitted her of terrorism and attempting to commit violence against a foreign official, but convicted her of attempted arson of the hotel, a crime that carries a five-year mandatory sentence. She was also convicted of assaulting the federal agents who arrested her.
Nguyen, who is in her mid-40s, spent five years in a Vietnamese prison before fleeing the country in 1987 and has lived in Paris since 1991. She has engaged in other protests, setting herself on fire outside theVietnamese Embassy in Paris and, according to prosecutors, throwing a Molotov cocktail at the Vietnamese Embassy in London. She and a companion flew to San Francisco a few days before Dzung's speech.
In court Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton told Nguyen that the sentence was probably too harsh for the crime, but the law gave her no choice.
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