US Citizen William Nguyen To Be Deported From Vietnam After 40-Day Arrest

U.S. Citizen of Vietnamese descent, William Anh Nguyen, will be "deported immediately" after his one-day trial for causing public disorder during the nationwide protest in Ho Chi Minh City in June, reports said.

32-year-old Nguyen, a Houston native and a Yale University graduate, was detained on June 10, a day after he arrived in Vietnam as a tourist. After facing a sentence of up to seven years in prison, he received the lightest punishment possible, Trinh Vinh Phuc, one of Nguyen’s lawyers, said at the conclusion of the morning trial as reported by Bloomberg.

“Many people got surprised by the verdict. The verdict reflects the care about bilateral diplomacy,” Phuc said. He added that Nguyen will fly back to the U.S. within a day or two. He will not contest the verdict and he will also be allowed to return to Vietnam. “Everyone is happy as the verdict satisfied the expectations of Will, his family and the lawyers,” Phuc said.

Nineteen U.S. lawmakers wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday, for Nguyen's secure release.

"As elected representatives of Mr. Nguyen's family, and the greater Vietnamese-American community, we remain very concerned about the seriousness of the pending charges and the sentence he faces," the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters, said.

“We are pleased that William Nguyen will be reunited and returning home with his family,” Asia Pacific Advocacy Manager at Amnesty International USA, Francisco Bencosme, said. “However, we don’t believe he should have been detained and charged in the first place for freely expressing himself and exercising his right to protest.”

Nguyen was detained during protests that happened in Vietnam due to concerns that the proposed special economic zones that offer land leases for up to 99 years would be dominated by the Chinese and that their online freedom will be curbed by the cyber security legislation.

He was arrested for causing public disorder, which, according to Vietnam’s criminal code, can get a person up to seven years of imprisonment. Though Vietnam’s constitution allows freedom of assembly, most protests are usually broken up by the police.

A video of Nguyen urging others to climb over barricades was covered by the media in Vietnam. Another video, which showed him with blood on his head during the protest, was widely circulated through Social media as well.

The Vietnamese government authorities denied using force on Nguyen and allowed U.S consular officials to visit him.

The trial happened two weeks after Pompeo addressed Nguyen's case during meetings with Vietnamese officials in Hanoi, Vietnam. He asked for a speedy resolution regarding the detention. Members of Congress had also called for his release.

“We are pleased that the case of U.S. citizen William Nguyen has been resolved,” U.S. Embassy in Vietnam Spokesperson James Thrower said to Bloomberg. “We understand from the court’s decision that he will be deported after paying a fine. The United States has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens.”

The South China Morning Post reported a state-run newspaper wrote that since Nguyen admitted to his illegal activities, the jury considered his sincerity and he was exempted from the prison sentence.

Nguyen’s arrest was an example of Vietnam’s policies with regards to public expression and internet freedom, which many U.S. lawmakers have already called out on. They had already warned Google and Facebook about Vietnam’s new cyber security laws, which required the companies to store local data in the country.