VIETNAM NEWS SERVICE, MAY 11, 2006
HA NOI — A hearing on the appeal in the ongoing lawsuit against US chemical companies on behalf of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange was delayed for unknown reasons, according to Prof Tran Xuan Thu, general secretary of the Viet Nam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin.
A hearing had been scheduled to take place at the end of this month before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, said Thu.
The hearing would likely be rescheduled to sometime between August 5 and December 5, he added, but said the defendants gave no reason for the delay.
Nevertheless, Thu said, the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/dioxin would continue with the lawsuit until justice is achieved.
The victims were not alone, he added, since they have received increasingly strong support nationally and internationally, including from many in the US.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Committee for Vietnamese Overseas yesterday received 1,400 euros from a Viet kieu (overseas Vietnamese) in Finland and VND5 million from a Vietnamese-French in support of Agent Orange victims.
Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange filed a lawsuit against 37 US chemical makers for producing and supplying toxic defoliants used by the US army in Viet Nam.
US Federal District Court Judge Jack B. Weinstein dismissed the case in March 2005, sending the victims to pursue an appeal in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

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