Case against Hmong leader called 'lies'

SACRAMENTO, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- An attorney for a U.S. Hmong leader accused of plotting the overthrow of the Laotian government says the case against him is built on prosecutors' lies.

Attorney John Keker told U.S. District Judge Frank Damrell in Sacramento Monday that the U.S. Justice Department's case against Gen. Vang Pao has been tainted by misconduct and fabrications by prosecutors and agents. He called for a review of the case by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, The Sacramento Bee reported.

"In 38 years of practicing law, I've never seen so many lies by prosecutors and agents in support of a case," said the veteran defense attorney, a former Marine platoon leader who was wounded in Vietnam.

Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Robert Tice-Raskin, the lead prosecutor in the case against Vang, responded by saying the U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento and the Justice Department's National Security Division "are behind this case," the Bee reported.

Vang, a national leader among ethnic Lao refugees known as the Hmong and a former anti-communist guerrilla commander, is facing charges of conspiring to buy scores of weapons to arm insurgents and hire mercenaries to oust the Laotian regime.