Vietnamese Authorities Refuse to Free Two Church Parishioners
RFA -
09/05/2013
Vietnamese authorities have released all 15 Catholics detained in a bloody
crackdown on protests in a North Central Coast province but are still refusing
to free two parishioners whose arrest in June triggered the demonstrations,
sources said Thursday.
Security remained tight in Nghi Phuong village in Nghe An province one day after
police opened fire in front of the My Yen church as they moved to break up a
demonstration by hundreds demanding the freedom of parishioners Ngo Van Khoi and
Nguyen Van Hai who had been held without trial for nearly three months.
A parishioner told RFA's Vietnamese Service that five of those detained during
the crackdown were freed by the police shortly after being held on Wednesday
while the others were released "after our priest talked to them."
On Thursday morning, "many police and soldiers were still in Nghi Phuong," the
parishioner said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
At least seven people were injured in the crackdown, one seriously, according to
the source.
A man, identified as just Van and 35 years old, is in "critical" condition after
being "beaten at home" by security forces, the source said. "At this moment,
three people are still in hospital."
Surprised
Parishioners were surprised by the violent crackdown on peaceful protesters,
saying they had merely demanded that the authorities keep their promise of
releasing Khoi and Hai on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the village chairman Nguyen Trong Tao signed a document assuring the
release of the two parishioners on Wednesday.
An earlier assurance of a Sept. 2 release had also not been met.
The authorities did not say why they reneged on the promise to release the duo.
"The village’s chairman lied to us. We're Catholics and we only can pray,"
another parishioner told RFA. "We did not use violence but they treated us like
that."
Khoi and Hai were taken away in June by suspected government security agents and
have been held without trial since then. Their families were informed they were
being held for “disturbing public order,” but no specific incidents were cited.
State-owned Nghe An TV said Wednesday that the authorities were forced to take
action because the protesters had turned violent.
They provoked the police into taking action by "attacking" officers on duty and
pelting them with stones, the TV station reported, saying one police officer was
injured in the incident.
Vietnam, under one-party communist rule, imposes various restrictions on
religious activities, including those of Catholic churches.
Tensions between the government and Vietnam’s Catholic community have also been
marked by disputes over church property seized by the communists during the
Vietnam War.
In January, a Vietnamese court jailed a group of over a dozen activists, many of
them affiliated with Catholic Redemptorist churches in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh
City, for plotting to overthrow the state in a decision condemned by rights
groups and several governments, including the U.S. and France.
The churches have been part of a growing voice among Vietnamese movements for
democracy and human rights in recent years.
Reported by An Nguyen for RFA's Vietnamese Service. Written in English by
Parameswaran Ponnudurai.