Later on during the day of the altercation, the police collected Browne and Arnett from the AP bureau in Saigon and took the pair to what they described as a "safe house". The police interrogators said that they would be arrested but were unspecific about the charges. One charge was that of assaulting two police officers, but the interrogators hinted that more serious offences such as organising illegal demonstrations were being considered. The officers conversed among themselves in French, a language which the reporters did not speak, but Arnett thought that they mentioned the word "espionage". After four hours of questioning, the pair were charged with assault.
Arrest and interrogation
Double Seven Day scuffle
Double Seven Day scuffle | Arrest and interrogation
Browne and Arnett. Arnett and his colleague, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and photographer Malcolm Browne Peter Arnett and Malcolm Browne Browne and Arnett
what is the double seven day scuffle?
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A physical altercation on July 7, 1963.
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between who?
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The secret police of Ngô Đình Nhu—the brother of President Ngô Đình Diệm—and a group of US journalists.
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who was arrested?
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The Double Seven Day Scuffle was a physical altercation on July 7, 1963, in Saigon, South Vietnam. The secret police of Ngô Đình Nhu—the brother of President Ngô Đình Diệm—attacked a group of US journalists who were covering protests held by Buddhists on the ninth anniversary of Diệm's rise to power. Peter Arnett of the Associated Press (AP) was punched on the nose, and the quarrel quickly ended after David Halberstam of "The New York Times", being much taller than Nhu's men, counterattacked and caused the secret police to retreat. Arnett and his colleague, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and photographer Malcolm Browne, were later accosted by policemen at their office and taken away for questioning on suspicion of attacking policemen.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Introduction
After their release, the journalists went to the US embassy in Saigon to complain about their treatment at the hands of Diệm's officials and asked for US government protection. Their appeals were dismissed, as was a direct appeal to the White House. Through the efforts of US Ambassador Frederick Nolting, the assault charges laid against the journalists were subsequently dropped. Vietnamese Buddhists reacted to the incident by contending that Diệm's men were planning to assassinate monks, while Madame Nhu repeated earlier claims that the US government had been trying to overthrow her brother-in-law. Browne took photographs of Arnett's bloodied face, which were published in newspapers worldwide.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Introduction
Later on during the day of the altercation, the police collected Browne and Arnett from the AP bureau in Saigon and took the pair to what they described as a "safe house". The police interrogators said that they would be arrested but were unspecific about the charges. One charge was that of assaulting two police officers, but the interrogators hinted that more serious offences such as organising illegal demonstrations were being considered. The officers conversed among themselves in French, a language which the reporters did not speak, but Arnett thought that they mentioned the word "espionage". After four hours of questioning, the pair were charged with assault.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Arrest and interrogation
Browne and Arnett in turn filed charges against the police over the altercation, and demanded compensation for the damage to their photographic equipment. Arnett and Browne were temporarily released in the evening, after which the whole Saigon press corps stormed the US embassy. Browne and Arnett were called in for five hours of questioning on the following day. Arnett was accompanied by a British embassy official who, reflecting Arnett's New Zealand citizenship, provided consular assistance on behalf of Wellington. In the end, Diem agreed to have the charges against Browne and Arnett dropped after hours of heated argument with US Ambassador Frederick Nolting, who had returned from his vacation.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Arrest and interrogation
Later on the same day, the US State Department released a statement in Washington DC, announcing that the Saigon Embassy had informally complained to and asked Diem's regime for an explanation regarding the incident, and said that officials were studying various accounts of the incident and that it was American policy to look out for the interests of their citizens regardless of their background or occupation. Since the embassy was unwilling to provide government protection against police aggression, the journalists appealed directly to the White House. Browne, Halberstam, Sheehan and Kalischer wrote a letter to US President John F. Kennedy, asserting that the regime had begun a full-scale campaign of "open physical intimidation to prevent the covering of news which we feel Americans have a right to know", which was noted by the press secretary Pierre Salinger.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Reaction
The indignant reporters stridently accused the Diem regime of causing the altercation, whereas the police claimed that the journalists threw the first punch. Embassy official John Mecklin noted that even Diem's media officials were privately skeptical about the veracity of the testimony of Nhu's men. In a heated meeting at the embassy, the press corps demanded that William Trueheart, the acting US Ambassador to South Vietnam in the absence of the vacationing Frederick Nolting, deliver a formal protest to Diem on behalf of the American government. Trueheart angered them by refusing to do so and blaming both sides for the confrontation.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Reaction
The police, who were loyal to Ngo Dinh Nhu, thereupon punched Arnett in the nose, knocked him to the ground, kicked him with their pointed-toe shoes, and broke his camera. Halberstam, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Buddhist crisis, was a tall man, standing around taller than the average Vietnamese policeman. He waded into the fracas swinging his arms, reportedly saying "Get back, get back, you sons of bitches, or I'll beat the shit out of you!" Nhu's men ran away without waiting for a Vietnamese translation, but not before Browne had clambered up a power pole and taken photos of Arnett's bloodied face.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Incident
On June 13, 2009 police from the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Security Agency raided Lê Công Định's law offices. He was arrested on "national security charges" under article 88 of Vietnam's criminal code ("conducting propaganda against the government"). Since his arrest, his current location and condition is unknown. Deputy Director General Department of Security Vu Hai Trieu announced that lot of documents and conspiracy evidences had confiscated which indicate the attempt to overthrow the state of Vietnam by Định. The arrest came a week after President Nguyen Minh Triet vowed in front of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers in Hanoi that the government respects and supports progressive lawyers and that it will criticize those who "trample democracy and human rights."
Le Cong Dinh | Arrest and charges
American pressmen had been alerted to an upcoming Buddhist demonstration to coincide with Double Seven Day at Chanatareansey Pagoda in the north of Saigon. The nine-man group, which included Arnett, Browne, AP photographer Horst Faas, David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan of "United Press International", and CBS's Peter Kalischer and photographer Joseph Masraf waited outside the building with their equipment. After an hour-long religious ceremony, the Buddhist monks, numbering around 300, filed out of the pagoda into a narrow alley along a side street, where they were blocked and ordered to stop by plain-clothed policemen. The Buddhists did not resist, but Arnett and Browne began taking photos of the confrontation.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Incident
The night of July 6, 1963, had started in a festive mood as Diệm awarded decorations to military officers at a ceremony. Among those in the audience were Generals Trần Văn Đôn and Dương Văn Minh, the Chief of Staff of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and the Presidential Military Advisor, respectively. They had returned from observing SEATO military exercises in Thailand, where they had been informed about the regional disquiet over Diem's policies towards the Buddhists.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Background
The police smashed Browne's camera, but his photographic film survived the impact. The other journalists were jostled and rocks were thrown at them. Photos of Arnett's bloodied face were circulated in US newspapers and caused further ill-feeling towards Diem's regime, with the images of the burning Thich Quang Duc on the front pages still fresh in the minds of the public. Halberstam's report estimated that the altercation lasted for around ten minutes and also admitted that the pressmen had tried to apprehend the policeman who had smashed Browne's camera but were shielded by the rock-wielding policeman's colleagues. He also claimed that the secret policemen had also tried to seize equipment from Masraf and Faas.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Incident
Diệm's pictures were taken down and his statue was covered up. A large table covered with green felt was brought in with the intention of seating Diệm for the handover to Minh and Vice President Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, who was to become the civilian Prime Minister. In a nationally televised event witnessed by international media, Diệm would "ask" the generals that he and his brother be granted exile and asylum in a foreign country, which would be granted. The brothers were then to be held in a secure place at JGS headquarters while awaiting deportation.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Intended arrest at Gia Long Palace
Then he looked back at Nhu, who was lying on the floor, twitching. He put a bullet into his head too. Neither Diệm nor Nhu ever defended themselves. Their hands were tied."
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Assassination
The brothers sought asylum from the embassy of the Republic of China, but were turned down and stayed in Ma Tuyen's house as they appealed to ARVN loyalists and attempted to negotiate with the coup leaders. Nhu's secret agents had fitted the home with a direct phone line to the palace, so the insurgent generals believed that the brothers were still besieged inside Gia Long. Neither the rebels nor the loyalist Presidential Guard had any idea that at 21:00 they were about to fight for an empty building. Minh was reported to be mortified when he realised that Diệm and Nhu had escaped during the night.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Diệm's escape
Diem's address on Double Seven Day worsened the mood of Vietnamese society. He stated that the "problems raised by the General Association of Buddhists have just been settled." He reinforced perceptions that he was out of touch by attributing any lingering problems to the "underground intervention of international red agents and Communist fellow travelers who in collusion with fascist ideologues disguised as democrats were surreptitiously seeking to revive and rekindle disunity at home while arousing public opinions against us abroad". The remark about fascists was seen as a reference to the conspiratorial Dai Viet Quoc Dan Dang who had long been enemies of Diem, but his address attacked all those who had criticised him in the past.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Incident
An engineer known for being a citizen journalist and social activist, Dieu was arrested on July 30, 2011 at Tan Son Nhat Airport along with Hồ Đức Hoà and Nguyễn Văn Oai upon their return to Vietnam. This was the first in a series of arrests during the 2011 crackdown on Vietnamese youth activists.
Đặng Xuân Diệu | 2011 Arrest
Minh instead arrived to find that the brothers were not in the palace. In anticipation of a coup, they had ordered the construction of three separate tunnels leading from Gia Long to remote areas outside the palace. Around 20:00 on the night of the coup, with only the Presidential Guard to defend them against mutinous infantry and armor units, Diệm and Nhu hurriedly packed American banknotes into a briefcase. They escaped through one of the tunnels with two loyalists: Air Force Lieutenant Ðỗ Thơ, Diệm's aide-de-camp, who happened to be a nephew of Colonel Đỗ Mậu, the director of military security and a participant in the coup plot, and Xuân Vy, head of Nhu's Republican Youth.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Diệm's escape
The killings sparked nationwide protests by South Vietnam's Buddhist majority against the policies of Diệm's regime. The Buddhists demanded that Diệm give them religious equality, but with their demands unfulfilled, the protests increased in magnitude. The most notable of these was the self-immolation of Thích Quảng Đức on June 11, which was iconically photographed by the media and became a negative symbol of the Diệm régime. Known as Double Seven Day, July 7 was the ninth anniversary of Diệm's 1954 ascension to Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam. In October 1955, following a fraudulent referendum, Diệm established the Republic of Vietnam, generally known as South Vietnam, and declared himself President.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Background
As part of a massive crackdown on Vietnamese youth activists in 2011, Vietnamese authorities on July 31 arrested Nguyễn Đặng Minh Mẫn, along with her mother, Đặng Ngọc Minh, and her brother, Nguyễn Đặng Vĩnh Phúc. The Vietnamese authorities had no warrant for the arrest and confiscated Minh Mẫn's camera and other photojournalistic materials. Minh Mẫn and her family were in arbitrary detention for over 17 months before going to trial.
Nguyễn Đặng Minh Mẫn | 2011 arrest
The embassy informed Conein that Kennedy had instructed him to find Diệm. Conein returned to Tân Sơn Nhứt at around 10:30. The following conversation was reported: Conein knew that if he saw the execution wounds, he would not be able to deny that Diem and Nhu had been assassinated. Conein refused to see the proof, realising that having such knowledge would compromise his cover and his safety. He returned to the embassy and submitted his report to Washington. The CIA in Saigon later secured a set of photos of the brothers that left no doubt that they had been executed.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | US reaction
Diệm refused, vowing to reassert his control. After sunset, the 5th Division of Colonel Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, who later became the nation's president, led an assault on Gia Long Palace and it fell by daybreak. In the early morning of 2 November, Diệm agreed to surrender. The ARVN officers had intended to exile Diệm and Nhu, having promised the Ngô brothers safe passage out of the country. At 06:00, just before dawn, the officers held a meeting at JGS headquarters to discuss the fate of the Ngô brothers. According to Lucien Conein, the US Army and CIA officer who was the American liaison with the coup, most of the officers, including Minh, wanted Diệm to have an "honorable retirement" from office, followed by exile.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Surrender and debate
He said that he did not believe a formal protest was possible given that it could not be proven that the violence was pre-meditated but claimed to believe the journalists' version of events. He also noted that Vietnamese officials had claimed that incident was simply a matter of "a few people lost their heads". In his report to Washington, Trueheart asserted that the uniformed policemen had tacitly helped their plainclothed counterparts, but he also had "no doubt that [the] reporters, at least once [the] fracas had started, acted in [a] belligerent manner towards [the] police". Trueheart contended that since the journalists had a long history of bad blood with the Diem regime, their word could not be taken over that of the Vietnamese police.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Reaction
The incident occurred during a period of popular unrest by the Buddhist majority against the Roman Catholic rule of Diệm. Buddhist discontent had grown since the Huế Phật Đản shootings on May 8, 1963. The government decided to selectively invoke a law, prohibiting the display of religious flags, by banning the use of the Buddhist flag on Vesak, the birthday of Gautama Buddha. One week earlier, the Vatican flag had been flown at a celebration for Archbishop Ngô Đình Thục, Diệm's brother. The Buddhists defied the ban, flying their flags on Vesak and holding a demonstration, which was ended with government gunfire and eight or nine deaths.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Background
The photos were taken at about 10:00 on 2 November and showed the dead brothers covered in blood on the floor of an APC. They were dressed in the robes of Roman Catholic priests with their hands tied behind their backs. Their faces were bloodied and bruised and they had been repeatedly stabbed. The images appeared to be genuine, discrediting the generals' claims that the brothers had committed suicide. The pictures were distributed around the world, having been sold to media outlets in Saigon. The caption below a picture published in "Time" read "'Suicide' with no hands."
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | US reaction
On April 17, 2012, Nguyen Quoc Quan was arrested again at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Government officials did not confirm his arrest until five days later. He is detained on charges of terrorism and for planning to "instigate a demonstration" during the anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. He is being detained for at least four months. According to his wife, he was planning to visit his younger sister and "talk about democracy and the rule of law". The U.S. consulate in Vietnam has confirmed that he has been arrested, but no formal charges have been filed and has not been granted a lawyer.
Việt Tân | 2012 arrests
Born 1979, Nguyen Viet Trung is a businessman and younger brother of Nguyen The Vu. The arrests were not officially confirmed by the Vietnamese government until November 22, 2007. During the press briefing, officials declined to state which laws the detained individuals have broken, nor released any information about Nguyen Quoc Quan, whose whereabouts remained unknown for a week. In response to the arrest, Viet Tan launched a worldwide awareness campaign under the name of Free Them Now, that included a petition to request the US, French and Thai government for assistance in demanding an immediate release of the individuals.
Việt Tân | 2007 arrests
Kennedy was skeptical about the story and suspected that a double assassination had taken place. He reasoned the devoutly Catholic Ngô brothers would not have taken their own lives, but Roger Hilsman rationalised the possibility of suicide by asserting that Diệm and Nhu would have interpreted the coup as Armageddon. US officials soon became aware of the true reasons for the deaths of Diệm and Nhu. Lucien Conein had left the rebel headquarters as the generals were preparing to bring in the Ngô brothers for the press conference which announced the handover of power. Upon returning to his residence, Conein received a phone call from Saigon's CIA station that ordered him to report to the embassy.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | US reaction
Đôn ordered another general to tell reporters that the Ngô brothers had died in an accident. He went to confront Minh in his office. At this time, Xuân walked into Minh's office through the open door, unaware of Đôn's presence. Xuân snapped to attention and stated, ""Mission accomplished."" Shortly after midnight on 2 November 1963 in Washington, D.C. the CIA sent word to the White House that Diệm and Nhu were dead, allegedly by suicide. Vietnam Radio had announced their deaths by poison, and that they had committed suicide while prisoners in an APC transporting them to Tân Sơn Nhứt.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | ARVN reaction
When rebel forces entered the palace, Diệm and his adviser and younger brother Ngô Đình Nhu were not present, having escaped before to a loyalist shelter in Cholon. The brothers had kept in communication with the rebels through a direct link from the shelter to the palace, and misled them into believing that they were still in the palace. The Ngô brothers soon agreed to surrender and were promised safe exile; after being arrested, they were instead executed in the back of an armoured personnel carrier by ARVN officers on the journey back to military headquarters near Tân Sơn Nhứt Air Base.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Introduction
This drew further negative attention to the behaviour of the Diệm régime amidst the backdrop of the Buddhist crisis.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Introduction
Their place of burial was never disclosed by the junta and rumours regarding it persist to the current day. The speculated burial places include a military prison, a local cemetery, the grounds of the JGS headquarters and there are reports of cremation as well. Nobody was ever prosecuted for the killings.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Burials of Diệm and Nhu
7 July was the ninth anniversary of Diệm's 1954 ascension to Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam. American pressmen had been alerted to a Buddhist demonstration to coincide with Double Seven Day at the Chanatareansey Pagoda in northern Saigon. When the Buddhists filed out of the pagoda into an adjacent alley, they were blocked by Nhu's secret police. When Peter Arnett and Malcolm Browne began taking photos, the police punched Arnett in the nose, floored him, threw rocks and broke his camera. Browne took photos of Arnett's bloodied face, and while the police smashed his camera, the film survived.
Ngô Đình Nhu | Buddhist crisis
He was arrested in 2009, initially for "theft of telephone wires", and later for "conducting propaganda" against the state. He made a televised confession but later recanted, saying he was coerced. In 2010 he was tried in day-long trial alongside fellow dissidents Lê Công Định, Nguyễn Tiến Trung and Le Thang Long. Amnesty International called the trial "a mockery of justice" and said the "trial allowed no meaningful defence for the accused". The trial judges deliberated for 15 minutes before returning with the judgment, which took 45 minutes to read. Amnesty International said the judgement had clearly been prepared in advance of the hearing.
Trần Huỳnh Duy Thức | Arrest and imprisonment
Inside the church, the brothers prayed and received Communion. A few minutes later, just after 10:00, an armoured personnel carrier and two jeeps entered the narrow alcove housing the church building. Lieutenant Thơ, who had earlier urged Diệm to surrender, saying that he was sure that his uncle Đỗ Mậu, along with Đính and Khiêm, would guarantee their safety, wrote in his diary later "I consider myself responsible for having led them to their death".
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Arrest in Cholon
In the meantime, Minh left the JGS headquarters and traveled to Gia Long Palace in a sedan with his aide and bodyguard, Captain Nguyễn Văn Nhung. Minh arrived at the palace at 08:00 in full military ceremonial uniform to supervise the arrest of Diệm and Nhu. Minh had also dispatched an M113 armored personnel carrier and four jeeps to Gia Long Palace to transport an arrested Diệm and Nhu back to JGS headquarters for official surrender. While Minh was on the way to supervise the takeover of the palace, Generals Đôn, Trần Thiện Khiêm and Lê Văn Kim prepared the army headquarters for Diệm's arrival and a ceremonial handover of power to the junta.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Intended arrest at Gia Long Palace
In 1971, Minh claimed that Thiệu was responsible for the deaths by hesitating and delaying the attack by his Fifth Division on Gia Long Palace. Đôn was reported to have pressured Thieu during the night, asking him on the phone "Why are you so slow in doing it? Do you need more troops? If you do, ask Đính to send more troops – and do it quickly because after taking the palace you will be made a general." Thiệu stridently denied responsibility and issued a statement which Minh did not publicly rebut: "Dương Văn Minh has to assume entire responsibility for the death of Ngô Đình Diệm." During the presidency of Richard Nixon, a US government investigation was initiated into American involvement in the assassinations.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Culpability debate
After the deaths, the military junta asserted that the Ngô brothers had committed suicide. On 6 November, Information Minister Trần Tự Oai declared at a news conference that Diệm and Nhu had died through "accidental suicide" after a firearm discharged when Nhu had tried to seize it from the arresting officer. This drew immediate skepticism from David Halberstam of "The New York Times", who won a Pulitzer Prize for his Vietnam reporting. Halberstam wrote to the US Department of State that "extremely reliable private military sources" had confirmed that the brothers were ordered to be executed upon their return to military headquarters.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Media reaction
While no formal inquiry was conducted, the responsibility for the deaths of the Ngô brothers is commonly placed on Minh's bodyguard, Captain Nguyễn Văn Nhung and on Major Dương Hiếu Nghĩa, both of whom guarded the brothers during the trip. Minh's army colleagues and US officials in Saigon agreed that Minh ordered the executions. They postulated various motives, including that the brothers had embarrassed Minh by fleeing the Gia Long Palace, and that the brothers were killed to prevent a later political comeback. The generals initially attempted to cover up the execution by suggesting that the brothers had committed suicide, but this was contradicted when photos of the Ngôs' corpses surfaced in the media.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Introduction
On April 17, 2012, Dr. Quan was at the Tan Son Nhat airport, when he called his wife and told her that he will call again shortly when he arrives at the hotel. Shortly after the phone call, he was then arrested at the airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Government officials did not confirm his arrest until five days later. He was detained on charges of terrorism and for planning to "instigate a demonstration" during the anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. The charges were later changed to subversion of the state. He is being detained for at least four months.
Nguyen Quoc Quan | 2012 arrest
They had to be killed. Diệm could not be allowed to live because he was too much respected among simple, gullible people in the countryside, especially the Catholics and the refugees. We had to kill Nhu because he was so widely feared – and he had created organizations that were arms of his personal power." Trần Văn Hương, a civilian opposition politician who was jailed in 1960 for signing the Caravelle Manifesto that criticised Diệm, and later briefly served as Prime Minister, gave a scathing analysis of the generals' action. He stated that "The top generals who decided to murder Diệm and his brother were scared to death.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Motivation
An investigation led by General Trần Văn Đôn, another coup plotter, determined that Nhung had repeatedly stabbed and shot the Ngô brothers while escorting them back to military headquarters after having arrested them. In a 1994 interview, General Nguyen Khanh recalled, "Nhu (Diem's brother) was alive when they put the knife in to take out some of the organs...the gallbladder. And in the Orient when you are a big soldier, big man-this thing is very important... They do it against Nhu when Nhu was alive... And Diem had this happen to him, and later on they kill him by pistol and rifle." It was widely believed that Minh had ordered Nhung to execute the Ngô brothers.
Nguyễn Văn Nhung | Introduction
The junta had ringed the home with barbed wire and armoured cars, sensing that the populace would riot and attack Cẩn. By this time, Cẩn had escaped to a Catholic seminary, but was considering applying to the Americans for political asylum. The US State Department was faced with a dilemma: sheltering Cẩn would associate them with the protection of a corrupt and authoritarian regime that had tortured and killed hundreds of thousands of its own people. Allowing Cẩn to be attacked by angry mobs would damage the reputation of the new American-backed junta. The State Department instructed: The White House sent a cable to the US Embassy, Saigon on 4 November agreeing that Cẩn and his mother needed evacuation.
Ngô Đình Cẩn | Downfall and arrest
According to his wife, he was planning to visit his younger sister and "talk about democracy and the rule of law". The U.S. consulate in Vietnam has confirmed that he has been arrested, but no formal charges have been filed and has not been granted a lawyer. Since his arrest, the US consulate was able to visit him only once.
Nguyen Quoc Quan | 2012 arrest
The generals knew very well that having no talent, no moral virtues, no political support whatsoever, they could not prevent a spectacular comeback of the president and Mr. Nhu if they were alive."
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Motivation
Nhu expressed disgust that they were to be transported in an APC, asking, "You use such a vehicle to drive the president?" Lắm assured them that the armour was for their own protection. Xuân said that it was selected to protect them from "extremists". Xuân ordered the brothers' hands be tied behind their backs before shoving them into the carrier. One officer asked to shoot Nhu, but Xuân turned him down.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Convoy to JGS headquarters
On July 31, 2011, Vietnamese authorities arbitrarily detained Minh Mẫn along with her mother (Đặng Ngọc Minh) and brother (Nguyễn Đặng Vĩnh Phúc). During a two-day trial of 14 Vietnamese activists in January 2013, Minh Mẫn received one of the longer sentences, 8 years in prison and 5 years house arrest.
Nguyễn Đặng Minh Mẫn | Introduction
Once the news of the cause of death of the Ngo brothers began to become public, the United States became concerned at their association with the new junta and their actions during the coup. US Secretary of State Dean Rusk directed Lodge to question Minh about the killings. Lodge cabled back, initially backing the false story disseminated by the generals, saying that their story was plausible because of the supposedly loaded pistol being left on the floor of the vehicle. Rusk was worried about the public relations implications the bloody photographs of the brothers would generate. Lodge showed no alarm in public, congratulating Đôn on the "masterful performance" of the coup and promising diplomatic recognition.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Impact and aftermath
Trung and Thanh were arrested in April 2011, prompting a protest by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The organization charged that the Vietnamese government was doing the bidding of the Chinese Communist regime. "Beijing's reach does not stop at China's borders," said RSF spokesman Gilles Lordet. "Reporters Without Borders has learned that the Chinese government successfully pressured the Vietnamese authorities to arrest two people, Vu Duc Trung and Le Van Thanh." At first the authorities filed administrative charges against the two men, but later they upgraded the charges to criminal charges. The Vietnamese government accused Trung and Thanh of "violating international communications regulations and damaging relations between Hanoi and Beijing," said a relative of the men, Pham Thanh Trung, who maintained that the men had not discussed politics on their radio programs, only religion.
Vu Duc Trung | Arrests
Thanh and Trung were arrested in April 2011. The arrests prompted Reporters Without Borders (RSF) to protest against the Vietnamese government, claiming they were doing the bidding of the Chinese government. "Beijing's reach does not stop at China's borders," claimed RSF spokesman Gilles Lordet. "Reporters Without Borders has learned that the Chinese government successfully pressured the Vietnamese authorities to arrest two people, Vu Duc Trung and Le Van Thanh." The initial charges were administrative once against both men, but were later increased to more serious criminal charges. The Vietnamese government accused the two men of "violating international communications regulations and damaging relations between Hanoi and Beijing," stated a family member of the men, Pham Thanh Trung, who asserted that their radio program had only discussed religion, never politics.
Le Van Thanh | Arrests
Thơ recorded Diệm's words as they left the house of Ma Tuyen as being "I don't know whether I will live or die and I don't care, but tell Nguyễn Khánh that I have great affection for him and he should avenge me". Soon after the early morning mass was celebrated for All Souls' Day (the Catholic day of the dead) and after the congregation had left the building, the Ngô brothers walked through the shady courtyard and into the church wearing dark grey suits. It was speculated that they were recognised by an informant as they walked through the yard.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Arrest in Cholon
After the coup, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam General Paul Harkins, inspected the tunnel and noted that it "was so far down that I didn't want to go down to walk up the thing". The brothers emerged in a wooded area in a park near the Cercle Sportif (), the city's upper class sporting club, where they were picked up by a waiting Land Rover. Ellen Hammer disputes the tunnel escape, asserting that the Ngo brothers simply walked out of the building, which was not yet under siege. Hammer asserts that they walked past the tennis courts and left the palace grounds through a small gate at Le Thanh Ton Street and entered the car.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Diệm's escape
On January 9, 2013, a trial was held by the People's Court of Nghe An Province where Nhat and 13 other activists were found guilty of “carrying out activities with intent to overthrow the people’s administration” due to his political activities and involvement with the banned opposition group Viet Tan. He was sentenced to four years in prison and three years of probation.
Tran Minh Nhat | 2011 Arrest
After Minh had ordered the rebels to search the areas known to have been frequented by the Ngo family, Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo was informed by a captured Presidential Guard officer that the brothers had escaped through the tunnels to a refuge in Cholon. Thảo was told by Khiêm, his superior, to locate Diệm and prevent him from being killed. When Thảo arrived at Ma Tuyen's house, he phoned his superiors. Diệm and Nhu overheard him and Thơ drove them to the nearby Catholic church of St. Francis Xavier (), which they had frequented over the years. Lieutenant Thơ died a few months later in a plane crash, but his diary was not found until 1970.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Arrest in Cholon
Under political pressure by the United States Department of State and the World Pen Club, the Communist government of Vietnam released Nguyen Khac Chinh after 17 years in jail. He received political asylum and was reunited with his family in Maryland, United States.
Nguyen Khac Chinh | Arrest and imprisonment
After the arrest, Nhung and Nghĩa sat with the brothers in the APC, and the convoy departed for Tân Sơn Nhất. Before the convoy had departed for the church, Minh was reported to have gestured to Nhung with two fingers. This was taken to be an order to kill both brothers. The convoy stopped at a railroad crossing on the return trip, where by all accounts the brothers were assassinated. An investigation by Đôn determined that Nghĩa had shot the brothers at point-blank range with a semi-automatic firearm and that Nhung sprayed them with bullets before repeatedly stabbing the bodies with a knife.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Assassination
Minh instead arrived to find that the brothers were missing. In anticipation of a coup, they had ordered the construction of three separate tunnels leading from Gia Long to remote areas outside the palace. Around 20:00 the night before, Diệm and Nhu hurriedly packed American banknotes into a briefcase. They escaped through one of the tunnels with two loyalists: Cao Xuân Vy, head of Nhu's Republican Youth, and RVNAF Lieutenant Đỗ Thơ, Diệm's aide-de-camp, who happened to be a nephew of Đỗ Mậu. Diệm and Nhu emerged in a wooded area in a park near the Cercle Sportif (), the city's upper-class sporting club, where they were picked up by a waiting vehicle.
1963 South Vietnamese coup | Diệm's escape
The arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, the president of South Vietnam, marked the culmination of a successful coup d'état led by General Dương Văn Minh on 1 November 1963. The coup was the culmination of nine years of autocratic and nepotistic family rule in South Vietnam. Discontent with the Diệm regime had been simmering below the surface, and exploded with mass Buddhist protests against long-standing religious discrimination after the government shooting of protesters who defied a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) had launched a bloody overnight siege on Gia Long Palace in Saigon.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Introduction
When the new assembly convened, Đán was arrested. In May 1961, U.S. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson visited Saigon and enthusiastically declared Diệm the "Winston Churchill of Asia." Asked why he had made the comment, Johnson replied, "Diệm's the only boy we got out there." Johnson assured Diệm of more aid in molding a fighting force that could resist the communists.
Ngo Dinh Diem | Elections
One day after Trung's arrest, Loretta Sanchez, member of the United States House of Representatives, officially protested the Vietnamese government's action in jailing the activists. Political analyst Carl Thayer from the University of New South Wales noted that charges of subversion are unsubstantiated while the real intent of the Communist authorities is to silence the dissidents. In connection with Nguyen Tien Trung detention, Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based international non-government organization, has released an official condemnation of the arrest, asserting that while the rest of the world has its attention on protests in Iran and the riots in Xinjiang, the Vietnamese Communist government had jailed a number of pro-democracy activists who had spoken out against the state even though their efforts have been peaceful.
Nguyễn Tiến Trung | International response
Diệm and Nhu were executed at the conclusion of the coup. Following the downfall of the Ngô family, the White House came under pressure from the South Vietnamese public to take a hard line against Cẩn. Mass graves containing 200 bodies were found on his land. The US consul in Huế, John Helble, confirmed the existence of rows of 18th-century style dungeons with filthy, dark cells in an old French arsenal. Although junta member General Trần Văn Đôn asserted that the compound predated the Diệm era, the town's citizens saw Cẩn as a mass murderer. On 4 November, two days after the coup ended, thousands of irate townspeople walked three kilometres to Cẩn's house on the city's southern outskirts – where he lived with his aged mother – demanding vengeance.
Ngô Đình Cẩn | Downfall and arrest
The criticism of the killings further caused the officers to distrust and battle one another for positions in the new government. Đôn expressed his abhorrence at the assassinations by caustically remarking that he had organised the armoured car in an effort to protect Diệm and Nhu. Khanh claimed that the only condition he had put on joining the conspiracy was that Diem would not be killed. According to Jones, "when decisions regarding postcoup affairs took priority, resentment over the killings meshed with the visceral competition over government posts to disassemble the new regime before it fully took form."
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Impact and aftermath
On October 21–23, 1956, a delegation composed of 40 writers and artists discussed the questions of intellectual freedom with such prominent party cadres as Trường Chinh, Xuân Thủy, and Tố Hữu. Of the intellectuals present, the young poet Lê Đạt expressed particularly sharp criticism of the regime's intolerant cultural policies in general, and of To Huu and Hoai Thanh in particular. Among others, he condemned the imprisonment of the poet Trần Dần, and the harassment to which Văn Cao, a famous poet and composer, had been subjected. On the second day, it was the artists' turn to speak. On the third day, Truong Chinh declared that the intellectuals' complaints were justified, but he instructed the participants not to publish anything about the debate in the press.
Nhân Văn–Giai Phẩm affair | Arrests
He no longer trusted anyone outside his family and considered himself to be a martyr.
Double Seven Day scuffle | Incident
On April 5, 2006, Nguyen Huu Chanh was detained by KNP police officers in Seoul, South Korea, because the Vietnamese government had made a request to the Korean authorities to detain Nguyen Huu Chanh for possible "charges of arms weapon trafficking and acts of terrorism". Protests in support of Nguyen in Vietnamese and South Korean communities grew throughout the United States and in South Korea for his release. There was a petition presented to the South Korean court that had over 70,000 signatures in support of Nguyen's release. Nguyen was released from custody at Uiwang, south of Seoul, on Thursday, July 27, 2006.
Nguyen Huu Chanh | Detention in South Korea
The loyalists traveled through narrow back streets in order to evade rebel checkpoints and changed vehicles to a black Citroën sedan. After leaving the palace, Nhu was reported to have suggested to Diệm that the brothers split up, arguing that this would enhance their chances of survival. Nhu proposed that one of them travel to the Mekong Delta to join Cao's IV Corps, while the other would travel to the II Corps of General Nguyễn Khánh in the Central Highlands. Nhu felt the rebel generals would not dare to kill one of them while the other was free, in case the surviving brother were to regain power.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Diệm's escape
In early 2002, he downloaded an essay from the US State Department's website titled "What is Democracy?" He then translated the essay into Vietnamese and forwarded it to friends. He also translated an essay of his own, titled "Encouraging Signs of Democracy" and originally written in French, and forwarded it to both friends and Communist Party officials. On March 25, police searched Son's house and interrogated him; he was arrested without a warrant two days later. In June 2003, he was sentenced to thirteen years in prison for espionage following a half-day trial. The prosecution accused Son of contact with "political opportunists" and "reactionary forces overseas".
Phạm Hồng Sơn | Arrest and imprisonment
Coinciding with the International Human Rights Day on December 10, rallies were organized in Paris, Sydney and Washington, D.C.. On November 24, 2007, Vietnamese security police released university student Nguyen Trong Khiem after detaining him for a week without cause. On December 12, 2007, after weeks of protests and appeals by U.S. lawmakers and international pro-democracy movements, Vietnam released American citizen Truong Van Ba shortly after the U.S. ambassador Michael Michalak demanded to see evidence of terrorism or other charges to justify their detention. Nguyen Quoc Quan remained detained in Vietnam, with the U.S. Consulate allowed to visit him once per month.
Việt Tân | 2007 arrests
He could have received the death penalty. He was imprisoned for 16 years, followed by five years house arrest, for "activities aimed at subverting the people's administration". His sentence was the longest ever passed on a Vietnamese dissident. His imprisonment was condemned by British Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis and American ambassador Michael W. Michalak. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded his detention was arbitrary and requested the Vietnamese government to release him and provide compensation. Amnesty International declared him a prisoner of conscience and called for his release. He led hunger strikes in prison.
Trần Huỳnh Duy Thức | Arrest and imprisonment
Allen Weiner of Stanford Law School also filed an update to the petition to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) in which the detention of 16 Catholic youth was ruled arbitrary and unlawful, regarding the accounts of assault Dieu has faced in prison. Various Swiss elected representatives have also visited the Vietnamese Consul in Geneva to bring attention to Dieu's case. On the 27th of October, 2014, many organisations had expressed their concern for Dang Xuan Dieu and his mistreatment in prison. Together, they released a letter calling for his immediate and unconditional release. These organisations include English PEN, ACAT France, Electronic Frontier Foundation, PEN International, Media Legal Defence Initiative and Viet Tan.
Đặng Xuân Diệu | International Response
Minh and Đôn asked Conein to secure an American aircraft to take the brothers out of the country. Two days earlier, US Ambassador to South Vietnam, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., had alerted Washington that such a request was likely and recommended Saigon as the departure point. This request put the Kennedy administration in a difficult position, as the provision of an airplane would publicly tie it to the coup. When Conein telephoned David Smith, the acting chief of the Saigon CIA station, there was a ten-minute delay. The US government would not allow the aircraft to land in any country, unless that state was willing to grant asylum to Diệm.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Surrender and debate
Van Hanh University was confiscated by the new communist government, and its buildings turned into dorms. Doan was detained the following year in a mass round-up of intellectuals with United States ties, on the grounds that though he might not be a CIA agent at the moment, he could "become one at any time." On 29 August 1976, he was sent to a re-education camp, where he would be imprisoned without trial for twelve years in a cell shared with 40 other people.
Đoàn Viết Hoạt | Background and first arrest
Reporters Without Borders reported on the arrest of the Catholic blogger Paulus Le Son and the major police operation targeting around 10 Catholics in August 2011. Paulus Le Son was arrested at his home on August 3, 2011 around 11:30am. Police blocked the road as he returned home on his motorcycle, deliberately causing him to fall. Four police officers then lifted him by his hands and feet and tossed him into a police car. Dang Xuan Dieu, 32, and Ho Duc Hoa, 37 were detained on July 30 at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City. The activists' families have tried to visit the activists in prisons multiple times, but were denied visits.
2011 crackdown on Vietnamese youth activists | Arrest
By our complicity, we Americans were responsible for the plight in which the South Vietnamese found themselves"".
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Memorial services
This would set Vietnam back 10 years in terms of the democratizing process. This was followed by reports that Nguyen Tien Trung was denied access to legal counsel. While in detention Trung is under coercive physical and psychological measures to "confess". The communiqué issued by Reporters Without Borders called on the international community to pressure the Vietnamese government to live up to its signatory status in respecting human rights.
Nguyễn Tiến Trung | International response
In 1970, Châu was arrested for treason against the Republic due to his meeting with his brother Hien, who had since the 1940s remained in the Việt Minh and subsequent communist organizations as a party official. Articles about Châu's confinement appeared in the international media. The charges were considered to be largely politically motivated, rather than for questions of loyalty to country. Yet in February 1970 Châu was sentenced to twenty years in prison. That May the Vietnamese Supreme Court held Châu's arrest and conviction unconstitutional, but Thiệu refused him a retrial. [Under construction] Although released from a prison cell by the Thiệu regime in 1974, Châu continued to be confined, being kept under house arrest in Saigon.
Trần Ngọc Châu | Political trial, prison
Minh traveled to Gia Long Palace in a sedan with his aide and bodyguard, Captain Nhung to arrest the Ngô brothers. Minh had also dispatched an APC and four jeeps to Gia Long to transport Diệm and Nhu back to JGS headquarters for the ceremonial handover of power during a nationally televised event witnessed by international media. Diệm and Nhu would then "ask" the generals to be granted exile and asylum in a foreign country, which would be granted.
1963 South Vietnamese coup | Escape to Cholon
Nguyễn Văn Đài (born 1969 in Khoái Châu District in Hưng Yên Province) is a Vietnamese human rights lawyer, democracy activist and blogger. He was arrested in December 16, 2015 by the Vietnamese authorities and charged under Article 88 for "conducting propaganda against the state". The arrest was condemned by international human rights organisations and elected representatives across the world. On April 5, 2017 while still in the prison in Vietnam, he received from German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier the Human Rights award 2017 of German Association of Judges.
Nguyễn Văn Đài | Introduction
After this, Đức left the military. In January 1966, he was arrested along with between 10–50 officers, mostly junior officers of the rank of captain, who were suspected of making plans to overthrow Kỳ's junta. Most observers thought the suspicions against the arrested men were not credible, and Đức was released after 24 hours and given an informal warning to avoid political activities. Kỳ made a speech denouncing the alleged coup plot without naming individuals the military was placed on a higher level of alert.
Dương Văn Đức | Trial
Truong was arrested in January 1978, and a search of his apartment revealed two Top Secret State Department documents in his possession. The documents had been provided to him by Humphrey, a United States Information Agency employee, to be passed on by Truong to Vietnam via a woman who turned out to be a double agent for the CIA and the FBI. The spy ring routed purloined classified information through Vietnam's United Nations mission in New York and its French Embassy in Paris. In retaliation, the American government, which lacked formal diplomatic relations with Vietnam at the time, expelled Dinh Ba Thi, Vietnam's UN legate, from the United States.
David Truong | Spying for Vietnam
When Thảo arrived at Ma Tuyen's house, he phoned his superiors. Diệm and Nhu overheard him and fled to the nearby Catholic Church of St. Francis Xavier (). The Ngô brothers walked through the shady courtyard. It was speculated that they were recognised by an informant while they walked through the yard. A few minutes later, just after 10:00, an APC and two jeeps entered.
1963 South Vietnamese coup | Diệm's escape
On October 7, 2020, she was arrested by Hanoi police and the Ministry of Public Security Officers in Ho Chi Minh City for "making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam." She has been charged under Article 117 of the penal code for "propaganda against the State", and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail if convicted.
Phạm Đoan Trang | 2020 Arrest
Doan's sentence was protested by a number of human rights organizations, including the United Nations, whose Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that Doan's sentence was arbitrary detention and therefore a violation of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam was a state party. Amnesty International protested the conditions of his trial, named him a prisoner of conscience, and called for his immediate release, as did The Committee to Protect Journalists and the World Association of Newspapers. Human Rights Watch also protested the sentence and called on the US government to pressure Vietnam for Doan's release.
Đoàn Viết Hoạt | Second imprisonment and international response
The United States did not want Diệm and Nhu to form a government in exile and wanted them far away from Vietnam. Assistant Secretary of State Roger Hilsman had written in August that "under no circumstances should the Nhus be permitted to remain in Southeast Asia in close proximity to Vietnam because of the plots they will mount to try to regain power. If the generals decide to exile Diệm, he should also be sent outside Southeast Asia." He further went on to anticipate what he termed a "Götterdämmerung in the palace".
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Surrender and debate
Nguyễn Ngọc Lễ (1918-1972) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He was also the head of the National Police in the 1950s. Lễ strongly advocated the assassination of President Ngô Đình Diệm and his younger brother and advisor Ngô Đình Nhu after they were arrested at the end of an army coup. Although his army colleagues did not agree with his proposal, the brothers were shot anyway, believed to have been on the orders of General Dương Văn Minh against consensus.
Nguyễn Ngọc Lễ | Introduction
Diệm and Nhu had communicated with the generals via a direct phone link from the safehouse to the palace, giving the false impression that they were still besieged. Having been informed of Diệm and Nhu’s whereabouts, Minh dispatched a group of officers and troops—which included Nhung—to arrest them. He was aware that the brothers had left the safehouse to go to St Francis Xavier's Church. Led by General Mai Hữu Xuân, the officers took an M113 armored personnel carrier (APC), four jeeps, and several soldiers to Cholon. As they left, Minh gestured to Nhung with two fingers, taken to be an order to shoot the brothers.
Nguyễn Văn Nhung | Diệm and Nhu assassination
On 9 May 1964, he was carried on a stretcher into the prison courtyard and assisted by guards and two Catholic priests to stand alongside the post to which he was tied. He was blindfolded against his request and shot in front of approximately 200 observers. Lodge defended his actions, claiming the United States did all it could to prevent the execution. The ambassador claimed Cẩn would have been allowed to seek refuge at the US embassy, despite the fact that he had ordered Conein to intercept Cẩn at the airport. Rev. Cao Văn Luân, Catholic rector of Huế University who had been fired for falling afoul of the powerful Archbishop Thục, asked Lodge that Cẩn not be executed.
Ngô Đình Cẩn | Trial and execution
The responsibility for the assassinations was generally placed on Minh. Conein asserted that "I have it on very good authority of very many people, that Big Minh gave the order", as did William Colby, the director of the CIA's Far Eastern division. Đôn was equally emphatic, saying "I can state without equivocation that this was done by General Dương Văn Minh and by him alone." Lodge thought that Xuân was also partly culpable asserting that "Diệm and Nhu had been assassinated, if not by Xuân personally, at least at his direction." Minh placed the blame on Thiệu, after the latter became President, for the assassinations.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Culpability debate
It proved convincing. Although apprehensive, CIA HQ gave the ok for a mass arrest of suspects. When President Thieu was solicited, he became "extremely upset" and suggested delay until he could dismiss the spies from his government. Finally, he agreed. Great caution was exercised to prevent leaks. "At midnight the police fanned out through Saigon" in three-man arrest teams. 50 were arrested, 41 were later tried and convicted. Huynh Van Trong held the highest government office, but his communist superior Vu Ngoc Nha was a close friend of Thieu. Trong had recently made a high-level trip to Washington. McGehee comments that while we were not able to recruit a single "clear-cut, high-ranking Viet Cong agent", the communists made "thousands of penetrations".
Ralph McGehee | Investigating a spy ring
When the corpses arrived at JGS headquarters, the generals were shocked. Although they despised and had no sympathy for Nhu, they still respected Diệm. One general broke down and wept while Minh's assistant, Colonel Nguyễn Văn Quan collapsed on a table. General Đính later declared, "I couldn't sleep that night". Đôn maintained that the generals were "truly grievous" over the deaths, maintaining that they were sincere in their intentions to give Diệm a safe exile. Đôn charged Nhu with convincing Diệm to reject the offer. Lodge later concluded, "Once again, brother Nhu proves to be the evil genius in Diệm's life."
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Attempted cover-up
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Trang was detained under de facto house arrest in February 2018. Her treatment by the government has been condemned by RSF.
Phạm Đoan Trang | 2018 Arrest
Hồ Đức Hoà is known for being a contributing journalist for the Vietnam Redemptorist News and for actively mobilizing access to education for children living in poverty and assistance to typhoon victims and people living with disabilities. Hoa was arrested on July 30, 2011 at Tan Son Nhat Airport along with Dang Xuan Dieu and Nguyen Van Oai upon their return to Vietnam. They were detained on unspecified charges under Article 79 which outlines activities aimed at overthrowing the government. This was the first in a series of arrests during the 2011 crackdown on Vietnamese youth activists.
Hồ Đức Hoà | 2011 Arrest
The death toll was put at around 50,000 as well as 75,000 imprisonments, and extended beyond communists to anti-communist dissidents and anti-corruption whistleblowers. His agents infiltrated labor unions and social organizations, and he expanded the police forces from 20 to 32 officers. They conducted arrests without warrants and selective suppression of criminal activity and graft while turning a blind eye to regime loyalists. Nhu and his wife allegedly amassed a fortune by running numbers and lottery rackets, manipulating currency and extorting money from Saigon businesses. In 1956, Diệm created a rubber stamp unicameral legislature, the National Assembly. Nhu won a seat in the body, ostensibly as an independent, but never bothered to attend a single session of debate or vote, but this made no difference as Diệm's policies were overwhelmingly approved in any formal show of numbers.
Ngô Đình Nhu | Power
Upon receiving the news of the suspect's arrest, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean thanked the Royal Malaysian Police, saying this was “an excellent example of the close and deeply valued partnership the law enforcement agencies of both countries have built over many decades”.
Kovan Double Murders | Arrest of the suspect
More than a decade after the coup, Conein claimed Diệm and Nhu would not have been killed if they had been in the palace, because there were too many people present. One Vietnamese Diệm loyalist asked friends in the CIA why an assassination had taken place, reasoning that if Diem was deemed to be inefficient, his deposal would suffice. The CIA employees responded that "They had to kill him. Otherwise his supporters would gradually rally and organise and there would be civil war." Some months after the event, Minh was reported to have privately told an American that "We had no alternative.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Motivation
On November 17, 2007, three Viet Tan members, US citizens Nguyen Quoc Quan, a mathematics researcher, and Truong Van Ba, a Hawaiian restaurant owner, and Frenchwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, a contributor to Viet Tan's Radio Chan Troi Moi radio show, were arrested in Ho Chi Minh City. At the time, they were leading a "democracy seminar" and preparing pro-democracy pamphlets, when 20 security officers raided the house. In addition, Thai citizen Somsak Khunmi and two Vietnamese nationals, Nguyen The Vu, a trader, and his brother Nguyen Trong Khiem were also arrested. Three days later, on November 20, 2007, Vietnamese security police arrested Nguyen Viet Trung, a Vietnamese citizen, in Phan Thiết.
Việt Tân | 2007 arrests
Conein asserted that Minh's humiliation by Diệm and Nhu was a major motivation for ordering their executions. Conein reasoned that Diệm and Nhu were doomed once they escaped from Gia Long Palace, instead of surrendering there and accepting the offer of safe exile. Having successfully stormed the palace, Minh had presumed that the brothers would be inside, and arrived at the presidential residence in full ceremonial military uniform "with a sedan and everything else." Conein described Minh as a "very proud man" who had lost face at turning up at the palace for his moment of glory, only to find an empty building.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Motivation
On June 16, 1966, he was pulled over by agents working under General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan. He was held at a National Police secret prison where he was tortured and held without charge. An anti-government agent, Ba Tra, had been arrested and gave the South Vietnamese government extensive information on anti-government forces working in the city. Ba Tra was held and tortured for about two weeks before signing a confession that he was a communist. Another bribe by his wife of US$6000 (US$ in 2020) got him transferred to National Police headquarters where, in a small cell, he spent the next six months.
Trương Như Tảng | Arrest and life in the jungle
Hai was arrested on 20 April 2008 in Ho Chi Minh City, and his computers and files were confiscated. He was then charged with tax evasion and sentenced to thirty months' imprisonment. He was scheduled for release in October 2010, but on the day of his release, his sentence was extended "pending further investigation". His home was allegedly also raided and his wife Duong Thi Tan beaten. On 5 July 2011, Duong Thi Tan was informed that Nguyen Van Hai had lost one of his arms due to an injury sustained in prison. In April 2012, he was brought to an additional trial for "spreading anti-government propaganda" along with bloggers Ta Phong Tan and Phan Thanh Hai.
Nguyễn Văn Hải | Arrest and prosecution
Another report, dated April 18, 1973, highlighted that over 300 individuals were arrested for subversive activities. Though the report listed students as the most substantial portion of the arrests, individuals such as university professors, journalists, and physicians were also detained. The method for torture upon a suspect who was picked up usually began with the suspect being forced into a car at gunpoint by an undercover policeman. A veil was then placed over the detainee's head and he was then instructed to lie down in the back of the police vehicle while he was being transported. Upon arrival the captive was stripped naked and forced to sit in either a refrigerated or darken cell for several hours, with loudspeakers broadcasting screaming, sirens, and whistles at high-decibel levels.
1964 Brazilian coup d'état | Arrests and interrogation
Neil Sheehan of UPI reported a similar account based on what he described as "highly reliable sources". Father Leger of Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church asserted that the Ngô brothers were kneeling inside the building when soldiers burst in, took them outside and into the APC. Lodge had been informed by "an unimpeachable source" that both brothers were shot in the nape of the neck and that Diệm's body bore the signs of a beating.
Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem | Media reaction