1964 South Vietnamese Coup - Trial

Trial

Khanh presided over the trial, which took place on May 28 after prodding by the Americans for him to give his opponents a hearing. Minh was accused of misusing a small amount of money, before being allowed to serve as an advisor on the trial panel.

The generals were secretly interrogated for five and a half hours, mostly about details of their coup against Diem, rather than the original charge of promoting neutralism. As all of the officers were involved in the plot against Diem, this did not reveal any information new to them. The court deliberated for over nine hours, and when it reconvened for the verdict, Khanh stated, "We ask that once you begin to serve again in the army, you do not take revenge on anybody". The tribunal then "congratulated" the generals, but found that they were of "lax morality" and unqualified to command due to a "lack of a clear political concept". They were chastised for being "inadequately aware of their heavy responsibility" and of letting "their subordinates take advantage of their positions". Khanh also assailed Dinh, claiming that he had derogatorily compared Khanh to Gamal Abdel Nasser in a meeting with Diem. The four imprisoned generals were allowed to remain in Da Lat under surveillance with their families. However, there were reports that the trial ended in a festive manner akin to a party, as the officers shook hands and made up with one another. All four generals were barred from commanding troops for a period; Kim was banned for six years, and Don 18 months. Offices were prepared for the quartet so that they could participate in "research and planning". Worried that the group of idle officers would plot against him, Khanh made some preliminary arrangements to send them to the United States for military study, but this fell through.

The trial was held behind closed doors and the public was not informed of the results nor that legal proceedings had occurred until a few days later. Despite the outcome, when the matter was made public, it was accompanied with a warning from Khanh against neutralism. The public press release stated that Khanh's junta had taken a lenient approach to enhance "the spirit of unity and the traditional comradeship in arms of the armed forces." Some civilians in Khanh's cabinet were caught off-guard by the secret hearing and one spoke out, saying "Letting them go like this removes the apparent justification for the whole Government's existence". The junta statement did not specifically charge anyone of neutralism but said that repetition of such activities could result in discharges from the military, implying that neutralist moves had occurred in the past. It warned of "infliction of all the punishments reserved for military personnel who have committed the crime of treason against the people in the struggled against the Communists and neutralists."

Khanh's actions left divisions among the officers of the ARVN who became dissatisfied with him. When Khanh was himself deposed in 1965, he handed over dossiers proving that the four generals were innocent; the original documents that Khanh claimed proved his accusations of neutralism were neither presented to nor found by anyone. Robert Shaplen said that "the case...continued to be one of Khanh's biggest embarrassments". Nevertheless, despite what the South Vietnamese public may have thought of him, Khanh enjoyed continuing confidence among the Americans until the latter part of 1964.