A court seeking justice for millions of Vietnamese Agent Orange/dioxinvictims opened in the outlying French city of Evry on April 16, a caselodged by French-Vietnamese Tran To Nga who spent 5 years collectinglegal and scientific evidence for the process.
Nga, 73, became a war correspondent of the Liberation News Agency aftergraduating from a Hanoi university in 1966. She worked in some of themost heavily AO/dioxin-contaminated areas in southern Vietnam such as CuChi, Ben Cat and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ultimately experiencingthe effects of contamination.
Among her three children, the first child died of heart defects while the second suffered from a blood disease.
In 2009, Nga, who contracted a number of acute diseases, appeared as awitness at the Court of Public Opinion in Paris, France against USchemical companies.
Last May, she andthe Paris-based William Bourdon & Forestier law firm filed a lawsuitagainst 26 US chemical firms for producing chemical toxins sprayed bythe US army in the war in Vietnam, causing serious consequences for thecommunity, her and her children.
Thecomplaint and related documents were handed over to the Crown Court ofEvry city in the suburb of Paris and the 26 US companies, 12 of whichlater hired lawyers.
During the first day, judges of the Crown Court of Evry questioned the 24 defence lawyers.
In France, a number of talks and film screenings about the harmfuleffects of AO on Vietnamese people and environment are currently takingplace.-VNA
Nga, 73, became a war correspondent of the Liberation News Agency aftergraduating from a Hanoi university in 1966. She worked in some of themost heavily AO/dioxin-contaminated areas in southern Vietnam such as CuChi, Ben Cat and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ultimately experiencingthe effects of contamination.
Among her three children, the first child died of heart defects while the second suffered from a blood disease.
In 2009, Nga, who contracted a number of acute diseases, appeared as awitness at the Court of Public Opinion in Paris, France against USchemical companies.
Last May, she andthe Paris-based William Bourdon & Forestier law firm filed a lawsuitagainst 26 US chemical firms for producing chemical toxins sprayed bythe US army in the war in Vietnam, causing serious consequences for thecommunity, her and her children.
Thecomplaint and related documents were handed over to the Crown Court ofEvry city in the suburb of Paris and the 26 US companies, 12 of whichlater hired lawyers.
During the first day, judges of the Crown Court of Evry questioned the 24 defence lawyers.
In France, a number of talks and film screenings about the harmfuleffects of AO on Vietnamese people and environment are currently takingplace.-VNA
