Ly Tong denies using pepper-spray in stage attack

The self-styled Vietnamese anti-communist freedom fighter says it was perfumed fish sauce he sprayed in the face of a Vietnamese singing star during a 2010 Santa Clara concert. Whether that story holds up under cross-examination was still to be determined, says the Merc’s Tracey Kaplan. The 63-year-old Ly Tong, who once hijacked a Vietnamese airliner and dropped anti-communist leaflets over Ho Chi Minh City, took the stand today in his assault trial in San Jose. Interest is especially high among the city’s 100,000-strong Vietnamese community.