Vietnam court upholds jail sentence for PM's former aide
HANOI - The Supreme Court has upheld jail terms for four people, including a former top aide to Prime Minister Phan
Van Khai, for involvement in terrorist acts against a Vietnam War-era heroine, state media reported Tuesday.
The court rejected an appeal by Nguyen Thai Nguyen, Khai's former aide, during a two-day hearing that ended Friday, the
Countryside Today newspaper said.
In October, a lower court convicted Nguyen, his wife and two ex-army officers of terrorism for their alleged involvement in a
plot to discredit and arrest Vo Thi Thang, a member of the powerful Party Central Committee, a legislator and director of
Vietnam's Tourism Administration.
Thang became a symbol of the Communist movement after a photograph was taken of her smiling broadly as she was being
escorted to jail by guards of the U.S.-backed former South Vietnamese government for guerrilla activities.
Nguyen was sentenced to four years in prison, while his wife was given one year. The two officers of the army's intelligence
agency were sentenced to three years for their involvement in the case, the newspaper reported.
Nguyen, his wife and the two former officers compiled documents alleging that Thang had betrayed her colleagues while in
prison in South Vietnam.
Officials familiar with the case said Thang was threatened because she forced Nguyen's wife to retire from the Tourism
Administration, where she had worked.
The Associated Press - February 20, 2001.
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