Nguyen Huu Chanh

In this Vietnamese name, the family name is Nguyen. According to Vietnamese custom, this person should properly be referred to by the given name Chanh.

Nguyễn Hữu Chánh (born 1952) is the Vietnamese-American founder of anti-communist organization Government of Free Vietnam (GFVN), in which he served as its prime minister.[1][2]

Early life

Rebel years in Vietnam

In 1975, said to be a member of the "Bao Long Liberators," a democratic organization in Nha Trang, under the leadership of Nguyen Hoang Dan.

In 1982 he secretly left Vietnam while being pursued by the Vietnamese government for his engagement in weapon smuggling activities, and immigrated to the United States.

Exile in the United States

In 1995, was selected by a members of the Government of Free Vietnam as Prime Minister, General Linh Quang Vien as Vice Prime Minister, Admiral Lam Nguon Tanh as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Nguyen Khac Chinh as the Minister of Information, Mr. Nguyen Huy Dau as Minister of Justice, Nguyen Son Ha as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Edgar Foshee as Chairman of the International Committee, and Mr. Ngo Trong Anh as President of the advisory council.

In June 1999, the government of Vietnam police issued an international order to pursue Nguyen Huu Chanh for his role behind the terrorist attacks against Vietnamese embassies overseas as well as in Vietnam since 1995.

On January 2, 2005, he stepped down as Prime Minister of the Government of Free Vietnam when former head of state of South Vietnam Nguyen Khanh was elected by delegates of the GFVN. Nguyen then took the helm as the chairmanship of the Walk Against Terror International, a new organisation tasked with combatting terrorism around the world.

Detention in South Korea

On April 5, 2006, Nguyen Huu Chanh was detained by KNP police officers in Seoul, South Korea, because the Vietnamese government had made a request to the Korean authorities to detain Nguyen Huu Chanh for possible “charges of arms weapon trafficking and acts of terrorism”.

Protests in support of Nguyen in Vietnamese and South Korean communities grew throughout the United States and in South Korea for his release. There was a petition presented to the South Korean court that had over 70,000 signatures in support of Nguyen's release.

Nguyen was released from custody at Uiwang, south of Seoul, on Thursday, July 27, 2006. The Seoul High Court rejected the Vietnamese request to hand over Chanh, whom the Vietnamese government accused of involvement in failed attempts to bomb its embassy in Thailand and state facilities in Vietnam, including a statue of founding leader Ho Chi Minh, between 1999 and 2001.

Quotes

References

  1. ↑ "Hanoi's Most Wanted". TIME. Apr 17, 2006.
  2. ↑ Seeking Vietnamese activist's release OC Register, July 10, 2006.

External links