Police in Hanoi have launched a criminal investigation into Catholic Church protests over the Church property dispute, while state-controlled media continue to insult Church leaders.
The police newspaper Capital Security on Tuesday reported that Vietnam government sought legal action against Hanoi’s Archbishop and some clergymen who were accused of abusing their power to incite followers to confront the communist government, destroying state-owned properties, and attacking public officials.
Church leaders in Hanoi consider the investigation as a new form of terrorism aiming at individuals after failed attempts to terrorize the Catholic community as a whole.
Since 18 December, the former residence of the Vatican nunciature in the capital has been the focus of gatherings for thousands of Catholics who demand the building sequestered by the government in 1959 and set to become a restraint and night club be returned.
The charges of destroying state-owned properties and attacking public officials are related to the clash on 25 January when protestors scuffled with police and threw away commercial billboards on the fence of the Vatican nunciature.
In an article published on VietCatholic News on Wednesday, Bishop Francis Nguyen Van Sang of Thai Binh diocese, who witnessed the January 25th episode, decried the press coverage as a “shameful distortion of the facts” and an attempt “trying to turn crime victims into criminals”
“At 11:45 am,”, the prelate wrote, “I saw a Hmong woman jumped over the nunciature fence and tried to put some flowers at the feet of the statue of the Virgin Mary. 5 or 6 male and female security guards tried to grab hold of her. Disregarding the women's explanations for venturing into the building they began to beat her and kick her. There were 4 to 5 thousand Catholics there as witnesses.”
“A man jumped in to rescue the woman, he himself was beaten cruelly. I myself ran around trying to help them”.
Protestors broke through the gate to rescue the man and the woman, they too were embroiled in the scuffle with police.
The prelate argued that “the guards could not attack the woman brutaly like that”. He challenged the government to follow impartial legal procedures demanding state press “not turn crime victims into criminals.”
On Saturday, local authorities charged sit-in demonstrators of occupying state-owned buildings, and threatened extreme action unless they dispersed by 5 pm Sunday. However, more than 3,000 Catholics gathered in the garden of the building for a prayer vigil on Sunday, in defiance of the government ultimatum.
Bishop Francis Nguyen came and prayed for hours with protestors on Monday morning.
Since last Friday, hundreds of religious together with many lay faithful have been camping in the garden of the ex nunciature in prayer. There are also a great number of police in uniform and in plain clothes. These mix among the people taking photos and making films with video cameras.
The police newspaper Capital Security on Tuesday reported that Vietnam government sought legal action against Hanoi’s Archbishop and some clergymen who were accused of abusing their power to incite followers to confront the communist government, destroying state-owned properties, and attacking public officials.
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| Bishop Francis Nguyen sang Rosary with protestors |
Since 18 December, the former residence of the Vatican nunciature in the capital has been the focus of gatherings for thousands of Catholics who demand the building sequestered by the government in 1959 and set to become a restraint and night club be returned.
The charges of destroying state-owned properties and attacking public officials are related to the clash on 25 January when protestors scuffled with police and threw away commercial billboards on the fence of the Vatican nunciature.
In an article published on VietCatholic News on Wednesday, Bishop Francis Nguyen Van Sang of Thai Binh diocese, who witnessed the January 25th episode, decried the press coverage as a “shameful distortion of the facts” and an attempt “trying to turn crime victims into criminals”
“At 11:45 am,”, the prelate wrote, “I saw a Hmong woman jumped over the nunciature fence and tried to put some flowers at the feet of the statue of the Virgin Mary. 5 or 6 male and female security guards tried to grab hold of her. Disregarding the women's explanations for venturing into the building they began to beat her and kick her. There were 4 to 5 thousand Catholics there as witnesses.”
“A man jumped in to rescue the woman, he himself was beaten cruelly. I myself ran around trying to help them”.
Protestors broke through the gate to rescue the man and the woman, they too were embroiled in the scuffle with police.
The prelate argued that “the guards could not attack the woman brutaly like that”. He challenged the government to follow impartial legal procedures demanding state press “not turn crime victims into criminals.”
On Saturday, local authorities charged sit-in demonstrators of occupying state-owned buildings, and threatened extreme action unless they dispersed by 5 pm Sunday. However, more than 3,000 Catholics gathered in the garden of the building for a prayer vigil on Sunday, in defiance of the government ultimatum.
Bishop Francis Nguyen came and prayed for hours with protestors on Monday morning.
Since last Friday, hundreds of religious together with many lay faithful have been camping in the garden of the ex nunciature in prayer. There are also a great number of police in uniform and in plain clothes. These mix among the people taking photos and making films with video cameras.