Registry
No.
ZURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret,
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
DRAFT LETTER
To:-
Martin Ennals Esq
Amnesty International
International Secretariat
53 Theobald's Road
LONDON WC1X 8SP
Type 1 +
FROM
Lord Goronwy-Roberts
Telephone No. Ext.
Department
I have delayed a reply until I had far than a rehurst of the proceedings.
Your letter of 18 October reached me on
29 October, the day on which the trial of those
accused of illegal exit from South Vietnam was held
in Saigon.
The trial took place in open court with friends
and relatives of the accused, the press and members
of the staff of our Embassy present. On the evidence
now available, the position is as follows. Of the
118, 10 were acquitted, 2 were sentenced to one year's
imprisonment, and the remainder received sentences of
between 3 and 8 months. 109 members of the group
appeared in court, 8 having been unconditionally
discharged before the trial and one woman, who was
unconditionally released in July, having died in her
home in Saigon before the trial began. She is now
counted among those acquitted, as are those who were
unconditionally discharged and all children under 14,
the age of criminal responsibility under South
Vietnamese law.
The accused were represented in court by more than
50 defence lawyers, none of whom raised any complaints
No about harsh treatment of their clients.
were
allegations of substitution in court/made at any time. Nor was it suggested that any male prisoners had been
sent to the front line without military training, still
/less
6195 D073528 400M 2/74 Cr.P.C. 839/3
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