Vietnam Court to Hear Appeal of ''Mennonite Six'' Members Today

 

Christian Post

Tuesday, Apr. 12, 2005

The appeal of the secretary general of the Mennonite Church in Vietnam before the People’s Supreme Court of Vietnam will be heard today

The appeal of the secretary general of the Mennonite Church in Vietnam before the People’s Supreme Court of Vietnam will be heard today– nearly half-a-year after he was handed a three-year sentence with five others from his congregation, according to reports by Christian persecution watchdog groups.

Last November, the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang and five other members of Vietnam’s Mennonite Church were convicted of “obstructing people from carrying out official duties.” Since then, three of the six have been released from prison in recent months, while three more remain.

According to a report released last year by Calif.-based Compass Direct, the appeal of the sentencing, which was filed also on behalf of fellow Mennonite pastor Pham Ngoc Thach, was cancelled without explanation just a day before it was to have originally taken place on Feb. 2.

Compass reports that those close to the situation said that the charges and trial against the "Mennonite Six" were an artifice to take out of circulation Rev. Quang, an outspoken leader of the Vietnam Mennonite Church. Quang, who also served as an active member of the Vietnamese Evangelical Fellowship, had actively campaigned against religious freedom and human rights abuses.

At the four-hour trial at the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court, Nguyen was sentenced to three years imprisonment and his co-workers—Pham Ngoc Thach, Nguyen Van Phuong, Le Thi Hong Lien, Ngyuen Thanh Nhan, and Hieu Nghia—were given sentences ranging from 9 months to 2 years.

Following sentencing of Quang and the other “Mennonite Six,” groups such as the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), “strongly condemn[ed] the unfair prison sentence handed down on several members of the banned Vietnamese Evangelical Mennonite Church simply for the peaceful exercise of their religious beliefs.”

Last week, Quang’s wife, Le Thi Phu Dung called on Christians to fast and pray from the evening of Apr. 10 through the morning of Apr. 12 (Vietnam time).

Quang’s wife, in expressing thanks for the support and encouragement given to the church, the imprisoned leaders and their families, said that her husband is a "faithful servant of the Lord Jesus." She maintained that "Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang and the Mennonite evangelists...never acted to prevent officials from carrying out their duties, and never violated the laws of Vietnam in the Mar. 2, 2004 incident.

"The tradition and the position of our Mennonite Church is to espouse peace, respect freedom and justice, and contribute to the building of a progressive society filled with love, expressing the love and salvation of the Lord Jesus to all people," she stated. “We are assured that God will use his power to deliver his servants.”

In a statement released by Open Doors USA, the ministry’s president, Dr. Carl Moeller said, “We need to support our Vietnamese brothers and sister in Christ who are suffering in prison for their faith.

“Let’s cover them in prayer,” the Open Doors USA head stated. “Through the power of prayer, three of the leaders have already been released.”

In particular Moeller requested for special prayers for Le Thi Hong Lien, the sole woman among six Mennonite church workers.

According to sources, the appeal of Lien’s one-year sentence cannot proceed after she reportedly suffered a mental breakdown because of the treatment she had received in prison.

Lien, a zealous church worker who specialized in teaching the Bible to small children, was reportedly transferred last month to the hospital in Bien Hoa, fifty kilometers north-east of Ho Chi Minh City. According to the Mennonite World Conference (MWC), the move followed a concerted international appeal to Vietnamese authorities to provide Lien with the care and treatment she needed.

Prior to her transfer, Lien reportedly suffered in prison from severe mental illness for many months.

 

Kenneth Chan
kenneth@christianpost.com