Nguyen Quoc Quan
Dr. Nguyễn Quốc Quân (English approximate pronunciation: ngween kwoog kwung / born November 20, 1953) is a Vietnamese-born American mathematics researcher and human rights activist[1] and a member of the leadership committee of the anti-communist organization Việt Tân.
He was detained on April 17, 2012, after arriving at Tân Sơn Nhất airport in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
[3] Previously, Dr Quân was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on a trip on November 17, 2007, for preparing pro-democracy flyers.
[1][14] He is a long-time democracy activist, a devotee of Martin Luther King Jr.[15] and member of senior leadership committee of Việt Tân.
During the press briefing, officials declined to state which laws the detained individuals have broken, nor released any information about Nguyễn Quốc Quân, whose whereabouts remained unknown for almost a week.
[28] In response to the detention, California-based Việt Tân organized an international campaign under the name of Free Them Now that included a petition demanding for an immediate release.
[9] On January 7, 2008, fifty-five members of the California Assembly signed a letter to the President of Vietnam, stating the "arbitrary detention of these individuals is unacceptable" and requested their immediate release.
[30] On March 12, 2008, chairman of Viet Tan, Đỗ Hoàng Điềm, appeared before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs along with Nguyễn Quốc Quân's wife to appeal to lawmakers to confront the issue.
Angela P. Aggeler, secretary for press and cultural affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Hà Nội, said "U.S. officials both here in Vietnam and in Washington have repeatedly called for the release of any individual for peacefully expressing his or her views and we have urged them to release Dr. Quân and that he be allowed to return to the United States as swiftly as possible,"[33] During Nguyễn Quốc Quân's detention in Vietnam along with Thai citizen Somsak Khumni and Vietnamese businessman Nguyen The Vu,[25] the U.S. consulate was allowed to visit him only once per month.
"[9] When Dr. Quân returned to United States on May 17, 2008, he was greeted by a group of cheering supporters, including Sacramento assemblyman Dave Jones.
"[44] Luke Simpkins, a Member of the Australian Parliament, has stated that the accusations by the Vietnamese government against Dr Quân are "completely fabricated and have no basis".
On April 14, 2012, Dr Quân's wife, Ngô Mai Hương, went before a House of Representative panel to appeal for help in releasing her husband.
[46] Australian Member of Parliament Luke Simpkins also called for unconditional and immediate release of Dr Quân and all other voices of conscience.
[45] On May 17, US House Representatives Frank Wolf, Dan Lungren, Zoe Lofgren, Loretta Sanchez and Bob Filner co-signed a letter addressed urging U.S.
"[47] On January 11, 2013, as the trial date was announced, US representatives Zoe Lofgren, Loretta Sanchez, Hang Johnson and Gerry Connolly repeated writing a letter to David Shear, US ambassador to Vietnam, asking him to take "immediate actions to secure the release of Dr. Nguyễn Quốc Quân.
