Catholic
defendants to be re-tried - Lawyer persecuted openly
VietCatholic News (14 Mar 2009 10:31)
Amid
a new defamation campaign by Hanoi media against Catholics of Thai Ha, and a
series of relentless attacks on their lawyer to hinder his service being
rendered to his Catholic clients, these defendants will be re-tried in late of
March.
The People's Court in capital city of Hanoi announced on Friday that it would
review the appeal of the eight Catholic defendants who were sentenced in early
December for their participation in prayer vigils calling for justice and the
restitution of land confiscated from the Church.
After the trial on Dec. 8, 2008 in a lower court, the eight parishioners from
Hanoi's Thai Ha parish were released after seven of them received suspended
sentences for “disturbing public order” and “damaging state property” in an
ongoing land dispute with the Vietnamese government which had drawn
international attention and help united the Vietnamese Church in the most
profound way one can imagine.
The defendants were among thousands of parishioners who joined prayer vigils and
peaceful rallies over the past year in the capital Hanoi demanding the return of
Catholic Church land seized by the state half a century ago.
At the trial, all denied the charges. Seven defendants received suspended jail
terms of 12 to 15 months, with credit for time already served while in police
custody and probation periods of up to two years, and the other defendant
received a warning. These sentences seemed to be light in comparison with what
had been threatened by communist leaders in Hanoi. Upon hearing these sentences
every defendants announced right in court that they would appeal to the high
court.
"I did nothing wrong. Our vigils were a good thing for the government, because
we prayed to God to enlighten the leaders' minds," defendant Le Quang Kien, 63,
told the court.
He said parishioners organized the vigils because they had heard that
authorities planned to sell the land to private buyers.
The trial was held at a local government town hall instead of the Dong Da
District People's Court where the government said would be more difficult to
limit the number of visitors.
Police surrounded the location to keep unauthorized visitors out, while a crowd
of parishioners from Thai Ha parish held a demonstration outside.
Hundreds of Catholic supporters outside the Hanoi court building greeted the
eight defendants, four men and four women, with flowers as they left the
building, which was guarded by rows of riot police.
The upcoming trial will be held at 2 Nguyễn Trăi, Hŕ Đông, a premise 40 km away
from Hanoi to avoid foreign media’s attention and to set a limit to number of
Catholic supporters whose attendance is anticipated.
Vietnamese state media recently have launched a defamation campaign against the
Catholic defendants suggesting more severe punishments.
On Feb 28, 2009, the online edition of the New Hanoi Newspaper very newspaper
had published an article charging the Thai Ha plaintiffs for refusing to “awaken
to reality" in a very provocative, accusatory tone. It charged the defendants of
“obstinacy and narrowness” and “refusing to go back to the right path”.
A week later, on March 5, Vietnam Television repeated the same charges brushing
aside the Thai Ha parishioners' demand to broadcast the corrected version of the
trial report the plaintiffs claimed VTV was responsible for.
What the state media's intention is now unraveling to the public view as they
are trying to portrait the plaintiffs are none other than stubborn defendants
who did not only refuse to honor the stayed sentence imposed upon them by the
Hanoi people's court, but also continue to cause public disturbances by
insisting on the media to make corrections on what they described as "distortion
of the truth" in broad daylight.
Even more alarming is the fact that the Catholics' legal counsel Mr. Le Tran
Luat is now being subject of governmental intimidation and persecution for
providing assistance in the law suits against the state media.
On Tuesday March 3, lawyer Le Tran Luat was arrested at Tan Son Nhat airport on
last Tuesday morning when he was boarding a flight from Saigon to Hanoi in order
to prepare for the law suits against the state media. He was released at the end
of the day. A series of "working sessions" with police have since been held. On
Saturday, March 15, he was arrested again and was put into police custody until
mid-night being threatened not to attend the upcoming court.
A week before, his office was ransacked. His computers and other personal
equipments were confiscated. His aides were taken into custody by plainclothes
policemen, and suffered hours of interrogation. Most of the firm staff members
have resigned from their post for fear of being retaliated by the police. On
March 12, his partner Nguyen Quoc Dat who has been in charge of the lawfirm
-while Luat was pre occupied with the Thai Ha law suit- has been harassed and
arrested, prompting people to suspect that the government is signaling a severe
punishment on those who dare to stand on the side of justice.
Police have also attacked him financially. His lawfirm reported that police had
forced most of his clients in Phu Quoc province to cancel their legal-aid
contracts with it describing the lawyer as "a political criminal" who would soon
be put into jail.
J.B. An
Dang