Vietnam grants amnesty to conspirator 22 years after imprisonment

Vietnam has granted amnesty to a local man who was sentenced to life in prison for treason and conspiring against the state 22 years ago, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Thursday.

According to an announcement on the amnesty issued by the Ministry of Public Security on Wednesday, State President Nguyen Minh Triet pardoned the man named Phan Van Ban based on his letter which pleads for clemency, and the state's humanitarian policies on amnesty.

In the letter, Ban, who had already served 22 years of his sentence, cited his advanced years and wish to be reunited with his family in the United States as the primary reasons for his request.

The letter also contains an apology to the Vietnamese government and people for his action as well as his new-found belief and confidence in the government in terms of handling socioeconomic reforms.

He pledged not to repeat his offences, vowed not to do anything harmful to the country in the future, and thanked the government and state president for his freedom.

Ban, given a life sentence by the People's Court of southern Dong Nai province in November 1985, once served as a policeman in the U.S-backed Saigon regime.

He joined an extremist organization called "The Internal Army for the country's Recovery" led by Truong Van Lan, and soon got promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the organization in which he became personal assistant to Lan, the report said.

Ban, who led a battalion and two regimes that operated in southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province, was integral to the group's propaganda work and set out to distort information to the public on the country's direction and the government's action.

After printing documents and leaflets that his accomplice distributed in January 1985, Ban and the rest of the syndicate were arrested by local police.

Right after his release on Wednesday, Ban left Hanoi capital for the United States.

Source: Xinhua