Vietnam Tuesday deported a Vietnamese-American political activist arrested last month after the US ambassador asked Hanoi to explain the charges against him and three other US citizens, state media said.
Leon Truong, a member of the banned Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform) party, "was transferred to the US side at Tan Son Nhat Airport and left Vietnam on flight CI 686," Vietnam Television reported, referring to a China Airlines flight bound for Taipei.
US Ambassador Michael Michalak hours earlier said in Hanoi he had seen no evidence to support claims in Vietnam's state media that Truong or three other US citizens in custody in the communist country were guilty of terrorism.
"If they're being detained because of peaceful expression of political views, we protest that most vigorously and call for their immediate release," he said, adding that Vietnam had not yet informed the US of any charges.
The state-run television report reiterated Vietnamese authorities' previous claim that Truong had been arrested in relation to a "terrorist scheme."
Viet Tan denies the claim and says it supports only non-violent political change in the communist country.
The television report said Truong had been released from custody at 3pm local time, having shown a "cooperative attitude with the authorities," and had been ordered to leave Vietnam within 14 hours.
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