Vietnam upholds jail terms for two Mennonite dissidents

 

AP - Tuesday April 12, 2005 

A Ho Chi Minh City appeals court on Tuesday upheld jail sentences for a dissident Mennonite pastor and one church follower, a court official said.

The Supreme People's Court of Appeals upheld the three-year sentence for Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang, general secretary of the Mennonite Church in Vietnam, and the two-year jail term against follower Pham Ngoc Thach, said court official Dang Duy Quang. He declined to give further details.

The Mennonite Church is officially banned by the communist government, which only recognizes six state-sanctioned religions.

Quang was arrested in June, along with five other church members, after calling for the release of four church followers who had been arrested earlier.

In November, he was sentenced to three years in jail on charges of "obstructing people from doing their official duty." Five other church members, including Thach, were given jail terms ranging from seven months to two years on the same charges.

It's unclear why the other four did not appeal their sentences.

Vietnam maintains that it holds no political or religious prisoners; only people who violate the law.

However, human rights groups as well as the United States and European Union have repeatedly criticized the government for its repressive treatment of political and religious dissent.