SACRAMENTO (California) - US PROSECUTORS on Monday dropped all remaining charges against 12 defendants accused of plotting to overthrow the communist government of Laos.
The US attorney's office in Sacramento filed a motion to drop the charges 'in the interests of justice,' according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press. US District Judge Frank Damrell Jr granted the motion.
'Based on the totality of the circumstances in the case, the government believes, as a discretionary matter, that continued prosecution of defendants is no longer warranted,' said the motion, which was filed in US District Court in Sacramento.
The move follows the death of Hmong leader and Vietnam War-era General Vang Pao, 81, last week. Vang Pao was dropped from the case in 2009. The general led Hmong guerrillas in their CIA-backed battle against communists during the Vietnam War and was revered as a father figure by the Hmong.
A federal judge in November dismissed key parts of the case against the 11 members of the Hmong community and a retired US Army lieutenant colonel. That included the government's charge that the men violated the federal Neutrality Act.
The act prohibits people in the United States from taking part in a military action against the government of another nation with which the US is at peace. -- AP
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