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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol. 37 No. 3. March 20, 1974

Ex~prisoner to speak at Vic

Ex~prisoner to speak at Vic.

"Andre, you must leave! You must leave in order to bear witness. You must leave in order to tell what you have seen in this prison, in order to tell of the tortures, the mistreatment, the murders. You must leave in order to tell about the policy that aims at killing patriots little by little. All these things have been going on for decades and not a word gets into the newspapers. You must leave in order to tell your testimony. You will be the spokesman of the Vietnamese political prisoners locked up in Thieu's prisons."

This is what Andre Menras was told by his fellow prisoners in Chi Hoa jail in Saigon shortly before he was released after having served two-and-a-half years as a political prisoner in South Vietnam. Ever since that time he has been travelling the world, trying to raise the question of the large number of political prisoners still held in jail in Thieu's jails, over one year after the Paris Peace agreement.

Victoria students who may still doubt that the stories that have been coming out of South Vietnam, about the repressive nature of the Thieu regime, and about the situation of the political prisoners are true will have a chance to learn first hand about the situation when Andre Manras speaks in the Union Hall this Monday, March 25 at 12 o'clock, and again at a public meeting in the same place at 8pm.

Photo of Andre Manras

The Thieu regime's ambassador in New Zealand has been forced very much on the defensive in recent weeks. It is not surprising, for he has the impossible task of trying to justify or explain away the numerous stories of the repression of his government. Andre Menras' visit will make many New Zealanders aware of the repressive nature of Thieu's regime. No wonder his man here is worried. Already he has tried to dismiss the things Andre has been saying as not worthy of listening to; simply because, in his opinion, Andre is "a well known communist sympathiser."

Students who are in doubt of the position must judge for themselves. But RAVPOC is quite sure that those who come to hear Andre will be convinced that despite the withdrawal of most of the American troops, the situation in South Vietnam is as bad as ever. Any peace that has been achieved so far is a peace built on the backs of thousands of Vietnamese still in prison, and a peace that those in this country who have long protested of this country's involvement in Vietnam can never accept with a clear conscience.

As a poem circulated among the political prisoners in Chi Hoa put it, expressing the hope of all patriotic Vietnamese, there is still a long way to go until:

The day of our country's unity
when north and south are joined in an ardent embrace
that day our mountains and rivers will shine
There will be no more children's tear, at night, in prison.

Fat Freddy's Cat cartoon