Vietnamese man wins defamation case

A former South Vietnamese army lieutenant who fled after the communist takeover has been awarded $225,000 for defamation after being called a communist sympathizer.

Turning aside defense warnings of damage to freedom of expression, a Thurston County Superior Court jury on Thursday found in favor of Duc Tan, 65. It also awarded $85,000 to the Vietnamese Community of Thurston County, which he founded to help Vietnamese refugees and promote Vietnamese culture and traditions among immigrants.

To find against defendants Norman Le, Phiet Nguyen, Dat Ho, Nga Pham and Nhan Tran, jurors had to find that they acted in "reckless disregard for the truth." The defendants made no immediate comment after the verdict.

Testimony indicated about 60,000 Vietnamese-Americans live in Washington.

"Because of the unique cultural and historical factors shaping the lives and opinions of those in the Vietnamese-American community, to be labeled a 'communist' is an extremely odious charge which cannot help (but) incite scorn, contempt, ridicule and a lack of trust," the lawsuit said.

The jury was told Tan received a death threat and that the group's board had shrunk from 15 members to four. Two witnesses testified they would not join the community group for fear of being labeled a communist.

"I'm glad this is over," Tan told The Olympian newspaper. "I hope this sets a new precedent so that others who might be tempted to wrongfully call someone a communist will think more carefully."

Accusations that someone is a communist or sympathizer are nothing new in Vietnamese communities, but libel suits have been relative rare, said Linda Trinh Vo, chairwoman of the Department of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Irvine.

Tan fought for the U.S. side in the Vietnam war, then fled the country in a boat in 1978, three years after the American pullout. When the boat capsized, eight others drowned, but Tan dragged his wife and daughter to a fishing vessel that took them to Malaysia. A year later they found their way to Olympia.

He sued the five Vietnamese-Americans after they accused him of communist sympathies in mass e-mails, public Internet postings and articles in Vietnamese-American media in the area, starting in 2003.

One accusation was based on a claim that a cook in a booth sponsored by the community group at Lakefair, a weekend civic festival in Olympia, wore an apron with images reminiscent of the Vietnamese flag of today, rather than the old South Vietnamese flag.

"Every Vietnamese political refugee having experiences with the Communists understands right away: the picture printed on that shirt (sic) wants to show the public the red flag and yellow star of the Vietnamese Communist," according to a translation of a subsequent e-mail.

Tan also was assailed after a musical group he brought to Olympia to honor a Vietnamese poet in 1997 began playing first few bars of the current Vietnamese national anthem. The jury was told that the guitarist said it was unintentional following his recent return from Vietnam and that the community group called a news conference and apologized.

An accusation that Tan would not display the old South Vietnamese flag at the Vietnamese-language school where he taught was false and "there is absolutely no doubt that they know it's false," said Tan's lawyer, Gregory M. Rhodes, explaining that several defendants attended a meeting in which Tan said he would display the flag.

A notice issued by the defendants concluded with a call to boycott the community group and the language school where Tan taught "so they would not have any ground to conduct activities on behalf of the evil communists and harm our compatriots and poison our children's minds."

In closing arguments, defense lawyer Nigel S. Malden said his clients had a "reasonable belief and faith in what they are doing" and asserted that upholding the libel claim would be a blow to First Amendment rights.

"It may very well muzzle existing political speech," Malden said. "A public figure has to be able to take criticisms. He has to be willing to be challenged."

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Information from: The Olympian, http://www.theolympian.com