Pilot gets 7 years for dropping leaflets on Vietnam
RAYONG - A Vietnamese-American pilot was sentenced Thursday to seven years and four months in jail for hijacking a small plane in Thailand and flying illegally over Vietnam to scatter anti-communist leaflets.
Ly Tong, a former bomber pilot in South Vietnam's air force who has staged similar stunts, was originally sentenced to 11 years, but Judge Pairath Noonpradej of the Rayong Provincial Court reduced the punishment to reward his cooperation in the trial.
Ly Tong was arrested in November 2000 after he returned from his audacious mission to drop the leaflets over Ho Chi Minh City, just before then-President Bill Clinton's visit to Vietnam.
He claimed during his trial that he did not hijack the plane but bribed the pilot with $10,000 to turn over control of the plane and help him dump the leaflets.
The time Ly Tong spent in detention since Nov. 17, 2000, will be deducted from his jail term, which means he will serve only about four years, said the prosecutor, Surasak Pransilp.
Ly Tong, 55, said he will not appeal but will apply for transfer to a U.S. jail to serve the remainder of his sentence under an agreement between the United States and Thailand.
''I am frustrated but I don't care anymore. All I needed was a verdict so I can get a transfer to U.S.A.,'' Ly Tong told reporters.
Ly Tong, branded by Vietnam's government as a ''dangerous international terrorist,'' has many admirers among Vietnamese who fled communist rule in their country.
During the final days of the Vietnam War, Ly was captured by North Vietnamese troops after his plane was shot down. He escaped a prison camp in 1980 and was granted asylum in the United States.
In 1992, he wrested control of a Vietnam Airlines jetliner that took off from Bangkok, Thailand, and forced the crew to fly him over Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon.
Ly dumped 50,000 leaflets before jumping out a cockpit window and parachuting into the city. He was arrested and was sentenced in 1993 to 20 years in prison.
After serving six years, he was granted amnesty and freed. He returned to the United States.
In January 2000, he rented a plane in Miami and flew over Havana, showering Cuba's capital with leaflets calling for the ouster of President Fidel Castro.
The Associated Press - December 26, 2003.
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