Published by Ohmynews on 2006-11-24 08:18 (KST)
Vietnamese businessman released in Belgium demands compensation from the U.S.
Returning to Vietnam after 133 days in detention at Forest Prison in Brussels, Buu Huy, deputy director of An Giang Agriculture and Food Import/Export Company (Afiex), said he is taking legal action against the court of the Northern District of Florida.
Huy was arrested in Belgium at the request of the U.S. in May on allegations of trade fraud. He is now discussing the case with several law firms. He said he would ask for compensation from the U.S. for the money and respect that he and his company lost by his four months in jail.
Huy has accused the North Florida court of violating procedure. The U.S. had an indictment, which meant that Huy was a suspect, not an offender. But instead of sending Huy a summons as required, the court issued a warrant for his arrest.
He said his arrest in Belgium also violated international and diplomatic rules. He was in Belgium on a Service Passport issued to a Vietnamese citizen. Belgian police arrested him but failed to inform the Vietnamese Embassy within 24 hours as required. They only informed the Embassy four days later, after Vietnam raised its voice against the arrest. The lateness violated the Vienna Convention on diplomatic exemption.
Huy said he was arrested in the middle of an international trade fair in Belgium, where he was approached by two men who told him to go outside. At that time, they presented their police cards, handcuffed Huy and brought him to a police station. When Huy asked for the arrest warrant and protested the way he had been arrested, Belgian police officers only said that they were arresting him at the request of the U.S.
Now he wants to take legal action for the following reasons:
Firstly, he is not responsible for the mislabeled fish products since the name of the fish used on all contracts, shipment papers and packing labels was "pangasius hypopthalmus," the Latin name of the fish known as tra (catfish), which is used all over the world.
Secondly, he did not put the wrong labels on the import products. The U.S. said that the labeling of grouper (ca mu, in Vietnamese) was deceitful. However, "grouper" is an English name. Each country has a different name for the fish and labeling the fish in English was required. Moreover, it was the responsibility of the American importers to label the product as grouper. Afiex Seafood only had to transport products to U.S. ports; they did not have to declare that they were importing products into the U.S. The American importers do that.
Thirdly, Afiex Seafood had not evaded taxes as accused in the indictment. Huy said his company had stopped doing business with American importers before Jan. 31, 2003, when the U.S. anti-dumping tax on Vietnamese catfish came into effect, so his company could not have evaded taxes.
Fourthly, Afiex Seafood is an independent company with its own juridical personality. Therefore, there was no involvement between it and other companies that were exporting fish to American businesses, as claimed in the indictment.
Huy said he would provide the U.S., specifically the North Florida court, with concrete evidence of his innocence so the court could withdraw or repeal the names of "Afiex" and "Buu Huy" in its indictment, which would pave the way for getting the arrest warrant removed from Interpol's Web site. Only by doing that, can Huy go abroad without being arrested.
He will also ask the U.S. to apologize and compensate him for the expenses he incurred during four months in jail, about U.S.$31,200, as well as for the losses his company suffered due to the withdraw of quite a few partners. Before the arrest, Afiex Seafood exported 50 to 60 containers of goods per month. At present, the figure stands at 20 to 30 containers.
Afiex is currently exporting fish to the U.S. market under the label of Basa and Pangasius Hypopthalmus. The U.S. importers must pay the anti-dumping taxes of 45.55 percent as required by the U.S. Department of Trade.
Huy is now choosing a lawyer to represent him in court. On the advice of a Belgian lawyer, Huy will hire American lawyers, perhaps a lawyer in Florida State, where the arrest warrant originated.
Assessing his chance of success, some U.S. and Belgium lawyers said Huy had a good chance of winning since he did not violate U.S. laws and the accusations against him were wrong. However, a dismissal of the case in Belgium does not mean the U.S. has accepted that they were wrong.
Vietnamese businessman released in Belgium demands compensation from the U.S.
Returning to Vietnam after 133 days in detention at Forest Prison in Brussels, Buu Huy, deputy director of An Giang Agriculture and Food Import/Export Company (Afiex), said he is taking legal action against the court of the Northern District of Florida.
Huy was arrested in Belgium at the request of the U.S. in May on allegations of trade fraud. He is now discussing the case with several law firms. He said he would ask for compensation from the U.S. for the money and respect that he and his company lost by his four months in jail.
Huy has accused the North Florida court of violating procedure. The U.S. had an indictment, which meant that Huy was a suspect, not an offender. But instead of sending Huy a summons as required, the court issued a warrant for his arrest.
He said his arrest in Belgium also violated international and diplomatic rules. He was in Belgium on a Service Passport issued to a Vietnamese citizen. Belgian police arrested him but failed to inform the Vietnamese Embassy within 24 hours as required. They only informed the Embassy four days later, after Vietnam raised its voice against the arrest. The lateness violated the Vienna Convention on diplomatic exemption.
Huy said he was arrested in the middle of an international trade fair in Belgium, where he was approached by two men who told him to go outside. At that time, they presented their police cards, handcuffed Huy and brought him to a police station. When Huy asked for the arrest warrant and protested the way he had been arrested, Belgian police officers only said that they were arresting him at the request of the U.S.
Now he wants to take legal action for the following reasons:
Firstly, he is not responsible for the mislabeled fish products since the name of the fish used on all contracts, shipment papers and packing labels was "pangasius hypopthalmus," the Latin name of the fish known as tra (catfish), which is used all over the world.
Secondly, he did not put the wrong labels on the import products. The U.S. said that the labeling of grouper (ca mu, in Vietnamese) was deceitful. However, "grouper" is an English name. Each country has a different name for the fish and labeling the fish in English was required. Moreover, it was the responsibility of the American importers to label the product as grouper. Afiex Seafood only had to transport products to U.S. ports; they did not have to declare that they were importing products into the U.S. The American importers do that.
Thirdly, Afiex Seafood had not evaded taxes as accused in the indictment. Huy said his company had stopped doing business with American importers before Jan. 31, 2003, when the U.S. anti-dumping tax on Vietnamese catfish came into effect, so his company could not have evaded taxes.
Fourthly, Afiex Seafood is an independent company with its own juridical personality. Therefore, there was no involvement between it and other companies that were exporting fish to American businesses, as claimed in the indictment.
Huy said he would provide the U.S., specifically the North Florida court, with concrete evidence of his innocence so the court could withdraw or repeal the names of "Afiex" and "Buu Huy" in its indictment, which would pave the way for getting the arrest warrant removed from Interpol's Web site. Only by doing that, can Huy go abroad without being arrested.
He will also ask the U.S. to apologize and compensate him for the expenses he incurred during four months in jail, about U.S.$31,200, as well as for the losses his company suffered due to the withdraw of quite a few partners. Before the arrest, Afiex Seafood exported 50 to 60 containers of goods per month. At present, the figure stands at 20 to 30 containers.
Afiex is currently exporting fish to the U.S. market under the label of Basa and Pangasius Hypopthalmus. The U.S. importers must pay the anti-dumping taxes of 45.55 percent as required by the U.S. Department of Trade.
Huy is now choosing a lawyer to represent him in court. On the advice of a Belgian lawyer, Huy will hire American lawyers, perhaps a lawyer in Florida State, where the arrest warrant originated.
Assessing his chance of success, some U.S. and Belgium lawyers said Huy had a good chance of winning since he did not violate U.S. laws and the accusations against him were wrong. However, a dismissal of the case in Belgium does not mean the U.S. has accepted that they were wrong.
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