Accused Vietnamese terrorist has no remorse

By Achara Ashayagachat

The chief suspect in the 2001 attempt to bomb the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok admitted the attack and defended his failure as a protest against human rights abuses in Vietnam.

"What I did [in 2001] was a symbolic act to tell Vietnam to improve human rights in my native country," Vo Van Duc said after the Criminal Court's first hearing of the case.

The court said it would announce on April 30 how it has decided to proceed with the case.

The 46-year-old Mr Duc was named by another suspect, Nguyen Thanh Hien Si, who said he had planted two bombs in front of the Vietnamese embassy on June 19, 2001.

The bombs, linked to a mobile phone detonator, failed to explode when the device was triggered.

Mr Si, a Vietnamese national, was arrested in Thailand while Mr Duc made his way to California, where he was arrested by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in October the same year.

Mr Duc's lawyer, Worasit Piriyawiboon, said he will fight the case on the grounds that his client should not be tried on the same charge that was dropped by US prosecutors.

Mr Duc obtained American citizenship in 1980 and has lived in the US ever since.

US prosecutors agreed to dismiss the case and sent him to the Thai court, Mr Worasit said.

Alleged co-accomplices Anh Tuan Tran and Phan Thanh Binh, who both have American citizenship, were arrested but later released due to a lack of evidence.

Mr Si, who has failed to obtain American citizenship due to his escape from a refugee camp, is now awaiting a hearing in Supreme Court on an appeal by prosecutors.

Bangkok Post

Last Updated : Tuesday April 10, 2007

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