Senator Thomas J. Umberg Calls for Release of Orange County Citizen Being Held by the Vietnamese Government
(Orange County, CA) – Senator Thomas J. Umberg (D-Santa Ana), Chair of the Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments, issued the following statement regarding the sentencing in Vietnam of American citizen Michael Nguyen to 12 years in prison.
After spending months without access to legal counsel, and no formal charges filed against him, Michael Nguyen was called by Vietnamese officials to stand trial this past Monday. Nguyen’s supporters have continually denounced the trial and jailing as a violation of human rights. Furthermore, the lack of due process or any evidence to convict him is a clear abuse of power. The recent sentencing of 12 years is a hefty punishment on an American citizen, in a nation like Vietnam that consistently fails to uphold the standard of basic human rights for its prisoners.
“I condemn the violation of human rights on Michael Nguyen, and express my support for his wife and daughters missing their husband and father. His family and neighbors should have him returned safely. He is an American being held without due process or evidence, and must be released,” said Senator Umberg. “The longer that Michael Nguyen is being held, the more strain is put on the relations between the United States and Vietnam. I call on President Trump to use all diplomatic means necessary to have Michael released safely from prison.”
Born in Vietnam and raised in the United States since childhood, Nguyen was arrested in Vietnam on July 6, 2018 on suspicion of activities against the government, while he was touring the central city of Da Nang on a visit with elderly relatives, according to his brother-in-law, Mark Roberts. Nguyen lives in Orange County, California, where he runs a printing business and was visiting friends in Vietnam at the time of his arrest, according to Roberts. Nguyen will be deported after serving his jail sentence. Human Rights organization, Amnesty International, estimates that at least 97 prisoners of conscience are currently held in Vietnam’s prisons, where many are subjected to torture or other ill-treatment.
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Senator Thomas J. Umberg represents the 34th Senate District 34, which includes the cities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Long Beach, Los Alamitos, Midway City, Orange, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, and Westminster. Umberg is a retired U.S. Army Colonel, former federal prosecutor, and small businessman. He and his wife, Brigadier General Robin Umberg, USA (ret.), live in Orange County.