HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam has detained 14 people after a dispute in which more than 200 people clashed with police while trying to rebuild part of a Catholic church damaged in the Vietnam War, state media said on Wednesday.
The incident flared on Monday when police stopped residents from reconstructing a building on the foundation of the bombed out Tam Toa Church in Dong Hoi city in the central province of Quang Binh, the newspaper Ho Chi Minh City Law quoted a police officer as saying.
"Functional organs explained (the situation), encouraged people to dismantle the house and suspend construction of the altar because such work is illegal," said the newspaper, which is run by the city's justice department.
It said a fight then started with some "extremists" shouting and inciting others to throw bricks and stones at the police, injuring two officers.
The Web site VietCatholic News (vietcatholic.net) said police attacked the crowd, firing tear gas and kicking and hitting people with stun guns and batons, injuring several worshippers.
Colonel Tran Dinh Tung, deputy chief of the Quang Binh Police, was quoted as saying the 14 had been detained for opposing officials who were performing their duty. Police would launch a formal investigation, he said.
A letter on the Web site of the Vinh diocese (giaophanvinh.net), where the church is located, from Le Thanh Hong, a priest from the Tam Toa parish, said "no less than 20" people had been detained.
Tam Toa Church, north of the Vietnam War-era demilitarised zone that separated North and South Vietnam, was destroyed by American bombers and only a bell tower and ruins remain.
Quang Binh authorities have recognised the ruins as a cultural site depicting war crimes and have developed a renovation project, the newspaper said. Activities outside the scope of that project are considered illegal.
Vietnam is home to the second biggest Catholic population in Asia after the Philippines.
Catholic priests and churchgoers in other parts of Vietnam, including the capital Hanoi, have been involved in land disputes with the authorities in recent months.
(Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-41222920090722)
The incident flared on Monday when police stopped residents from reconstructing a building on the foundation of the bombed out Tam Toa Church in Dong Hoi city in the central province of Quang Binh, the newspaper Ho Chi Minh City Law quoted a police officer as saying.
"Functional organs explained (the situation), encouraged people to dismantle the house and suspend construction of the altar because such work is illegal," said the newspaper, which is run by the city's justice department.
It said a fight then started with some "extremists" shouting and inciting others to throw bricks and stones at the police, injuring two officers.
The Web site VietCatholic News (vietcatholic.net) said police attacked the crowd, firing tear gas and kicking and hitting people with stun guns and batons, injuring several worshippers.
Colonel Tran Dinh Tung, deputy chief of the Quang Binh Police, was quoted as saying the 14 had been detained for opposing officials who were performing their duty. Police would launch a formal investigation, he said.
A letter on the Web site of the Vinh diocese (giaophanvinh.net), where the church is located, from Le Thanh Hong, a priest from the Tam Toa parish, said "no less than 20" people had been detained.
Tam Toa Church, north of the Vietnam War-era demilitarised zone that separated North and South Vietnam, was destroyed by American bombers and only a bell tower and ruins remain.
Quang Binh authorities have recognised the ruins as a cultural site depicting war crimes and have developed a renovation project, the newspaper said. Activities outside the scope of that project are considered illegal.
Vietnam is home to the second biggest Catholic population in Asia after the Philippines.
Catholic priests and churchgoers in other parts of Vietnam, including the capital Hanoi, have been involved in land disputes with the authorities in recent months.
(Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-41222920090722)