European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 9, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday june 9, 1992 the stars and stripes vietnamese lawyer jailed for maintaining . Ties Page 9 by Barbara Crossette the new York times Washington a at a time when the United states is moving steadily but slowly toward lifting an embargo and establishing diplomatic relations with Vietnam Hanoi has chosen to Send a Strong if perplexing message to its people against fraternizing with americans. In mid May a Southern vietnamese lawyer who had aided homeless orphans with the backing of leaders of the american anti War movement was sent to prison for 12 years for maintaining ties with . Citizens. His crime a an a anti socialist act a was trying to go into business with an american who advocates ending the embargo against the vietnamese. He was arrested with another vietnamese and Michael Morrow a former american journalist who uncovered the Story of the my Lai massacre. The Case might have gone unnoticed Here if the lawyer had not been Doan Thanh Liem and the Charity he assisted and later directed had not been the Shoeshine boys project. The project begun in 1968 by an american conscientious objector Richard Hughes captured the imagination of americans who were dismayed by the War. In Saigon and Danang Hughes set up Homes for boys some of them severely handicapped who had known nothing but rough life on the streets. After Hughes left Vietnam in 1976, the project was ended and the balance of the Money he had raised was used for another program for homeless children. The official hounding of Liem after the fall of Saigon in 1975, culminating in his arrest in 1990 and his trial last month has provoked in recent weeks a Volley of letters to Hanoi from leading members of Congress and George s. Mcgovern the former senator and presidential candidate who was an outspoken critic of the War. A May 18 petition to the vietnamese communist airman jailed demoted for drug sex offences Raf Lakenheath England a amps an air Force vehicle operator was Given a bad con duct discharge and ordered jailed for seven months for drug and sex offences after a general court martial thursday at Raf Lakenheath according to a base spokesman. Airman 1st class Jeffrey d. Miller 48th trans so was also demoted two grades to airman Basic and fined $1,500 by col. Michael b. Mcshane the judge who tried the Case. Miller pleaded guilty to wrongfully distributing hashish and having carnal knowledge and sodomy with a child younger than 16 years old said tech. Sgt. Rich Shick of the Public affairs office. According to court records Miller said that in september 1991 he arranged a Sale of a Small Quantity of hashish Between two British citizens and an air Force office of special investigations informant. The Sale took place in the Village of Feltwell about five Miles North of Raf Lakenheath. Miller also said that Between last september and november he had sexual Contact with the minor a 15-year-old american girl. Miller h As been assigned to Lakenheath since october 1990 and in the air Force since november 1989. He a being held at Raf Lakenheath a confinement facility pending review of his Case by the 3rd air Force commander. Party a Secretary general. Do muoi from dozens of american intellectuals and celebrities reads like a who s who of the anti War movement. Among the signers Are de Asner Daniel Berrigan Roant Chomsky Jane Fonda Frances Fitzgerald Tom Hayden Seymour Hersh Ron Kovic David Rabi Oliver Stone and Cora Weiss. A if nothing else it is severely damaging to Vietnam s efforts to rebuild and finally join the International family a said the petition to muoi. A it is time or. Secretary for All of us to realize our dream that the War be truly ended that All the wounds be healed Here and in Vietnam and that suspicion and misunderstanding become a thing of the  the cases of Liem and do Ngoc Long another former manager of the Shoeshine boys project who is also under arrest Are painful for americans who consider themselves friends of Vietnam Hughes said from his Home in new York City. He is now an actor with the Circle repertory company and other Heaters. Hughes branded a Central intelligence Agency spy by hard liners in Hanoi who seem to fear Western influence More than they want economic liberalization said that for years americans who had been in the Antiwar movement chose to ignore repressive actions by Hanoi by saying they had to be understood a in a political  a a in be reached a Point where i said to Vietnam this is no longer acceptable a said Hughes who was forced to leave the country in August 1976, a year after the fall of Saigon. A Vietnam was never about Vietnam a he said. A Vietnam was the defining event of a generation but it was something to service everyone else except the  Hughes said vietnamese had told him that some officials Are embarrassed by the treatment of his former aides Liem and Long. Royal Wax artist Edite Grin Burga from Latvia puts the finishing touch on the makeup of a Wax figure of Queen Elizabeth ii. The figure and other members of the Royal family a the Queen Mother Elizabeth Prince Charles and his wife Diana the Princess of Wales a were put on display in berlins Wax museum last week. Deluge of lawsuits expected on repetitive stress injuries by Barnaby j. Feder the new York times lawyers say hundreds of lawsuits blaming manufacturers of computer keyboards and other equipment for severe  wrist and hand injuries Are being prepared for filing within a few weeks at the Federal District court in Brooklyn after last tuesday s decision by a Federal judge to group All such cases together. The surge in litigation is expected to encourage similar lawsuits in other states pitting Telephone operators supermarket Cashiers journalists and a variety of clerical workers against Many of the world s biggest manufacturers and a number of smaller makers of High technology equipment. The Bureau of labor statistics estimated in 1990 that More than 46 million americans worked on computers. The Bureau also said that More than 180,000 american workers suffered from injuries tied to repetitive motion tasks which include office work and such activities As meat cutting and Assembly line jobs. The litigation involves a variety of inflammation and swelling problems that cause pain weakness numbness or tingling sensations and Are collectively known As repetitive stress injuries or sri. Among the most serious sri problems is carpal Tunnel syndrome a swelling of nerves at the Point where they pass through the wrist. The suits contend that the equipment used by office workers was defectively designed add that manufacturers failed to provide adequate warnings about How the equipment must be used to avoid injury. The 57 defendants so far in the cases brought together in Brooklyn read like a who a who of the computer and telecommunications industries. They include ism american Telephone amp Telegraph co., Uniss digital equipment Apple computer and Hewlett Packard. Subsidiaries of huge foreign companies like Northern telecoms of Canada Sony Nec and Fujitsu of Japan Samsung of Korea and Philips of the Netherlands arc also named. So Are Xerox corp. And the Latex inc. Subsidiary of Eastman Kodak co. Until now victims of muscle and nerve injuries linked to data entry work have relied almost exclusively on the workers compensation system. Workers compensation Laws typically do not allow injury victims to recover non economic damages such As payments for pain and suffering and they limit recoveries for Lon term disabilities. And they do not allow workers to sue their employers for injuries caused by negligence. The order issued last tuesday by judge Jack h. Weinstein brought into focus the growing Effort by plaintiffs lawyers to handle these injuries As product liability cases drawing equipment manufacturers into the fray and securing jury trials for heir  statue destroyed no discharged jailed for child abuse Stockholm Sweden apr an explosion destroyed a Stone statue of a Young Man on a horse Early monday the fifth such attack on statues in Central Stockholm in five months. Police said the explosion at 3 . In the medieval old town Section of Stockholm reduced the statue to rubble and broke 20 windows in nearby buildings. No one was injured. Other statues damaged in explosions since february include those of Hjalmar Branting who led Sweden in the 1920s As the country a first social democratic prime minister and Karl Wilhelm Scheele an 18th-Century chemist. Raf lace Heath England a amps a an aircraft maintenance specialist was Given a bad conduct discharge and ordered jailed for eight months for abusing his child according to a base spokesman. The general court martial was held May 29 at Raf Lakenheath. The stars and stripes requested information about it june 1, but the information was not received until monday. Tech. Sgt. Shelton j. Randall of the 492nd l fighter so was charged with unlawfully striking his son a number of times last november said tech. Sgt. Rick Shick of the base Public affairs office. Randall also was charged with abusing his son on several occasions by forcing him to sleep in a closet and remain standing in a Corner. Randall pleaded guilty to All charges and was tried by col. Michael b. Mcshane. 1 he charges resulted from a child advocacy investigation conducted after Randall a son 11, revealed to school officials that his father had been beating him Shick said. A Randall who has been in the air Force about 16 years and at Lakenheath nearly two years started serving his sentence at the Raf Lakenheath confinement facility immediately after the trial