Le Quoc Quan's arrest protested

Senator John McCain, Madeline Albright and National Endowment for Democracy chairman Vin Weber protested the arrest and imprisonment of Vietnamese lawyer Le Quoc Quan, in an April 12 letter to Vietnam president Nguyen Minh Triet. Quan was arrested on March 8, only four days after his return to Vietnam from the United States, where he had been on a five-month fellowship with the NED, studying the role of civil society in emerging democracies. The NED fellowship is part of an exchange program funded by Congress through a grant from the Dept. of State which has brought in distinguised visitors from around the world since its inception six years ago.

Albright and McCain serve as Chairmen of the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute respectively, which are key partners of the National Endowment for Democracy.

Source: National Endowment for Democracy press release, April 17.