A Thai appeals court Tuesday overturned a decision to extradite Vietnamese dissident Ly Tong, who was on trial for violating Vietnam's airspace by hijacking a plane and dropping 50,000 anti-communist leaflets over Ho Chi Minh City. The court ruled Tong's act was a political offense, rather than a criminal one, and Thailand does not extradite people to face trial on political charges. "Vietnam wants to take the defendant back to prosecute him for a political offense," said Judge Wisarut Sirisingh. "What he did caused no harm to the territorial security of Vietnam." The 61-year-old Tong, a U.S. citizen who fled Vietnam after the war, said he planned to return to the United States to continue his political struggle by peaceful means.
AP