A U.S. citizen detained for nearly a year in Vietnam is expected to stand trial this month, NBC News reported Monday.
Michael Phuong Minh Nguyen, 55, a father of four from Orange County, California, was arrested last July while touring the city of Da Nang and visiting elderly relatives, according to a family statement. He was put under investigation for activities against the people’s government of Vietnam, the family said in a statement.
That investigation wrapped up in mid-May; his trial is slated for June 24 and 25 in Ho Chi Minh City, according to a family statement.
Nguyen’s family said the Vietnamese government is expected to assign an attorney to represent Nguyen. They believe Nguyen, who was born in Vietnam, is innocent and possibly was “lumped together” with Vietnamese citizens who may have previously protested groundwater contamination, their statement reads.
