Police
terrorize Hanoi Catholics with a series of arrests
VietCatholic News - 28/08/2008
Hundreds
police have been mobilized for a raid in Hanoi to hunt for Catholic activists
who have been leading demonstrations at Hanoi Redemptorist monastery. Local
Catholic sources in Hanoi confirm that so far at least three people, including
an elder woman, have been arrested on Thursday morning.
Some
parishioners, who took part in protests at the site, were also summoned to
police stations. In an incident, 30 police men were deployed at the site to
arrest Nguyen Thi Nhi, a protestor woman who has camped at the site since
January.
Hanoi Redemptorists report that despite these threatening moves of security
forces, hundreds religious and lay people kept praying at the site under the
presence of large numbers of security police, in uniform and in plain-clothes,
surrounding the protestors and mingling in their ranks, taking photos and
filming with video cameras.
On Wednesday, with the clear intention of intimidation, Hanoi police announced
at a press conference that they had launched a “criminal investigation” against
Hanoi Redemptorists charging the religious with using their influence to incite
the faithful in a confrontation with the government, destroying state property,
assembling and praying illegally in public areas, and disturbing the public
order.
In an open letter sent to Vietnam prime minister, the chairman of the Congress,
and the Supreme Court released Thursday morning, the religious order criticizes
the move asking for constructive dialogue respecting truth, justice, and law.
State-run media in Ho Chi Minh city (formerly known as Saigon) which, until
recently, had stayed away from the Church land disputes in Hanoi, have “swamped
in” the campaign of disinformation and threats. The Voice of Vietnam has
repeatedly warned Catholic hierarchies in Saigon that any attempts to disturb
public order will be punished severely. The warning has been issued after the
provincial superior of the Redemptorists in Vietnam, Fr Vincent Nguyen Trung
Thanh, sent a letter on last Sunday in which he urged all Redemptorists of
Vietnam to be in solidarity with those of Hanoi, announcing a protest vigil at
the Saigon Redemptorist monastery on Thursday 28 August.