An important post

If there was ever a post I actually wanted you to read in full and actually act on, it's this one. As some of you may know, about eight months ago, my uncle, Hoan Nguyen, was imprisoned in Vietnam after being falsely accused of misappropriating money from the Hanoi International School, a school he helped open for the children of diplomats and corporate executives through a joint venture with U.S. shareholders as well as a Vietnam partner.

When the school started to finally turn a profit, Hoan was thrown into prison by the Vietnam government without being formally charged, without the ability to obtain a U.S. lawyer, and without any trial or evidence. Just recently, after communicating through the U.S. Embassy, my aunt, Yen, paid $85,000 in bail to the Vietnam government for Hoan's release. Instead of accepting the payment and releasing him, they extended his detention for an additional 4 months and are now making additional demands and accusations.

While my family had tried to keep this out of the public view as they tried to negotiate for Hoan's release, it is clear at this stage that we have no other choice. The Vietnam government will continue to detain Hoan while trying to extort money from his family and denying him his basic due process rights.

Congress is currently considering trade legislation (HR 5602) to normalize trade relations with Vietnam. Part of the pending bill states that "Vietnam...has undertaken extensive legal reform. These measures have dramatically improved Vietnam's business and investment climate."

Please contact your Congressmen and Senators regarding this very serious situation and urge them to reconsider the legislation in light of Hoan's situation, which clearly proves that Vietnam's business and investment climate is not as the bill states.

The recently-launched website, http://www.freehoannguyen.com/, contains additional background on the story and links to how you can help. Please note the site is still in the processing of being updated so new material will be added as it is deemed relevant.

Please take a minute to visit the site and do whatever you can, and forward this message or the website link to friends, colleagues, or anyone you think can help. The more public awareness we can raise concerning this, the better. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I appreciate your help. Thanks.