Michael Nguyen pictured with his wife and four daughters after his release.
A Vietnamese American man is speaking out after being freed from prison in Vietnam.
Michael Nguyen was imprisoned in Vietnam for two years and four months on accusations of attempting to overthrow the Vietnamese government. His original prison sentence was 12 years. Nguyen’s family believed that the government had coerced him to confess to the crime.
Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA) announced Monday that Nguyen had returned home late last week in Orange County to the surprise of his family. Now Nguyen is speaking out about his experience.
In a press conference on Wednesday morning, Nguyen detailed the challenges he faced during his trial and while in prison.
Nguyen says he and three others were removed from a bus in Vietnam.
“I was essentially kidnapped,” Nguyen said.
The individuals who removed and detained Nguyen did not present their credentials or provide a reason for Nguyen’s detention. Nguyen says he was blindfolded and handcuffed. He claims he was interrogated for 16 hours on some days.
“After 24 days of detention, under the jailers supervision, I was able to meet with a Consulate staff member about once every 5 weeks,” Nguyen said. “Our conversations were monitored in person, and we could only talk about my health and basic needs. Not about my case.”
Nguyen claims that he was never given a proper defense or trial. He said he was held for 11 months with no access to lawyers before he was given a trial.
“The first two months, I had no communication with my family at all. I knew nothing of how they were doing, of their health or of their lives,” Nguyen said.
His meetings with Consulate staff members were the only opportunities he had to send and receive letters from his family.
After about a year, Nguyen says a trial took place. A day before the trial Nguyen was given a public defender. He added that the public defender’s main job was to get him to sign “a statement of words that were not even [his] own.”
When he tried to explain himself in court, Nguyen says the court silenced him.
The State Department says that “private diplomatic conversations” led to Nguyen’s release, according to OC Register. Nguyen thanked Congressman Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Congresswoman Porter (D-CA), Congressman Lou Correa (D-CA), Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) and several others for helping to secure his release.
Nguyen is thankful to be home wit his family.
“I stand before you, a grateful man, who has experienced much in these past almost 2 and a half years,” Nguyen said. “Yet to endure so much over this period of time was nothing compared to the grace I received from God, through so many of you.”
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