charges against General Vang Pao, dropped!!

Posted on 18 September 2009

News was released today that charges against General Vang Pao had been dropped. This is great news for all General Vang Pao supporters including myself. General Vang Pao had led the CIA in the Vietnam War and had helped many American soldiers in the time of war. He was known as Hmong’s greatest hero and is well known around the world. Vang Pao started with the French as he was a soldier in Laos who had helped the French Army before the war in Laos. He later helped the American fought in the Secret War and became General in the Royal Laos Army.

Now the question is, what happens to the other 12 defendents? They too should and need to be released and all charges dropped against them as well!

Timeline of case (credits to FresnoBee and Sacbee)

1961: The CIA recruits Gen. Vang Pao to raise an army for a secret war against Lao communists.

1973: The United States pulls troops out of Southeast Asia.

1975: Communists are victorious. Vang is airlifted from his secret Lao airbase; thousands of Hmong flee Laos.

June 4, 2007: Vang and other Hmong leaders and one retired U.S. Army colonel are charged in Sacramento federal court of plotting the overthrow of Laos.

June 12, 2007: First of a series of rallies in Sacramento in support of the accused Hmong leaders.

July 12, 2007: Seven defendants are ordered released on bail; Vang leaves jail the next day.

March 24, 2008: A rally is held at the state Capitol to highlight Hmong deaths in Laos.

Feb. 23: Defense lawyers claim that the case is tainted by the lies of prosecutors and federal agents.

April 3: The U.S. attorney’s office responds that the defense has cherry-picked facts and omitted others in its allegations of government misconduct.

May 11: U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. says he will weigh the merits of arguments to dismiss the case after he sees the prosecution’s complete record.

Today: The federal government has dropped its charges against Vang Pao and added two more defendants to the indictment, bringing the total number of defendants to 12.