HANOI (AFP) — Two Vietnamese Catholics have filed legal suits against state media outlets in the communist country over their coverage of a recent trial stemming from a tense land dispute with the church.
In their rare legal complaints, the two women demanded corrections, apologies and damages from a state newspaper and a television station for reporting that they had pleaded guilty in court to charges of disorderly conduct and vandalism, which they deny.
The women were among eight Hanoi parishioners tried last month after taking part in mass prayer vigils for the return of a church property in the capital that was taken over by the one-party state half a century ago.
The Hanoi Moi (New Hanoi) daily and VTV1 television -- which, like all, Vietnamese media fall under party and state control -- at the time reported that all eight of the Catholics had admitted their guilt in court.
But Nguyen Thi Viet, 54, and Ngo Thi Dung, 60, in their complaints denied having admitted to any wrongdoing during the vigils at the disputed Thai Ha parish property, which was later turned into a public park.
"At the trial, the two women rejected the accusations by the state," the lawyer for the two women, Le Tran Luat, told AFP. "They did not admit to having committed crimes and breaking the law."
"However, the Hanoi Moi newspaper and VTV1 ran news that all the defendants had bent their heads and admitted the crimes. That was wrong."
The women each asked for just under 50 dollars in damages from each media outlet for publishing the "deliberately false and distorted" reports which they said had harmed their reputations, VietCatholic.net reported.
The eight were convicted of "disorderly conduct" and "damaging state property" for tearing down a wall around the disputed property last August. All were found guilty but released with non-custodial sentences or warnings.
The defendants in late December launched an appeal.
Luat said he had submitted the complaints late last week at two Hanoi courts and was awaiting replies this week on whether the cases would be heard.
The legal challenges against the media outlets mark a new tactic in the Catholics' struggle to reclaim the seized properties since thousands of faithful first started holding mass prayer vigils in late 2007.
Vietnam, a former French colony and a unified communist country since the war ended in 1975, has Southeast Asia's largest Catholic community after the Philippines -- at least six million out of a population of 86 million.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in a directive last week reminded local authorities to speed up granting land rights for religious establishments that meet required legal regulations, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said.
The premier also "warned that any attempt to make use of the land issue to incite public disorder, undermine national. .. unity and violate the laws will be punished strictly in line with the law."
(Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jjNOYhihQXK4kRkpoPhiwmmLmt9w)
In their rare legal complaints, the two women demanded corrections, apologies and damages from a state newspaper and a television station for reporting that they had pleaded guilty in court to charges of disorderly conduct and vandalism, which they deny.
The women were among eight Hanoi parishioners tried last month after taking part in mass prayer vigils for the return of a church property in the capital that was taken over by the one-party state half a century ago.
The Hanoi Moi (New Hanoi) daily and VTV1 television -- which, like all, Vietnamese media fall under party and state control -- at the time reported that all eight of the Catholics had admitted their guilt in court.
But Nguyen Thi Viet, 54, and Ngo Thi Dung, 60, in their complaints denied having admitted to any wrongdoing during the vigils at the disputed Thai Ha parish property, which was later turned into a public park.
"At the trial, the two women rejected the accusations by the state," the lawyer for the two women, Le Tran Luat, told AFP. "They did not admit to having committed crimes and breaking the law."
"However, the Hanoi Moi newspaper and VTV1 ran news that all the defendants had bent their heads and admitted the crimes. That was wrong."
The women each asked for just under 50 dollars in damages from each media outlet for publishing the "deliberately false and distorted" reports which they said had harmed their reputations, VietCatholic.net reported.
The eight were convicted of "disorderly conduct" and "damaging state property" for tearing down a wall around the disputed property last August. All were found guilty but released with non-custodial sentences or warnings.
The defendants in late December launched an appeal.
Luat said he had submitted the complaints late last week at two Hanoi courts and was awaiting replies this week on whether the cases would be heard.
The legal challenges against the media outlets mark a new tactic in the Catholics' struggle to reclaim the seized properties since thousands of faithful first started holding mass prayer vigils in late 2007.
Vietnam, a former French colony and a unified communist country since the war ended in 1975, has Southeast Asia's largest Catholic community after the Philippines -- at least six million out of a population of 86 million.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in a directive last week reminded local authorities to speed up granting land rights for religious establishments that meet required legal regulations, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said.
The premier also "warned that any attempt to make use of the land issue to incite public disorder, undermine national. .. unity and violate the laws will be punished strictly in line with the law."
(Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jjNOYhihQXK4kRkpoPhiwmmLmt9w)