Vietnam will try three naturalized US citizens on terrorism charges over an alleged plot to use radio transmitters to take over state airwaves and call for an uprising against the communist government, a judge said today. Vietnamese-born Thuong Nguyen “Cuc” Foshee and Le Van Binh, both of Florida, and Huynh Bich Lien “Linda” of California, are scheduled to stand trial in the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on Friday along with four Vietnamese nationals. “They are charged with terrorism,” said Bui Hoang Danh, the court’s chief judge. “It means that they may face sentences of at least 12 years imprisonment or even death sentences.”
The defendants are accused of bringing 14 radio transmitters and five generators into Vietnam in early 2005, allegedly planning to electronically seize control of the Voice of Vietnam Radio and call for an uprising against the government, according to Nhan Dan, the official Communist Party newspaper.
Danh would not elaborate on how the alleged radio jamming could be interpreted as a deadly act, but the Nhan Dan article briefly mentioned that the alleged plot also involved plans to “jam and disturb” aviation radio communication.
The defendants rented a house in Cambodia and opened a phony charity organization in order to train in broadcasting skills, Danh was quoted as saying by the Vietnam News Agency.
(Source: afp/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)