Vietnamese Catholics have just started a campaign to pray for six Catholics who will be tried in the next few days, strongly denouncing the continual manipulation of the justice system by the Vietnamese communist government as it keeps using public court as a tool for persecuting and terrorizing those who refused to stay quiet in their quest to fight for the truth and justice.
In Hanoi, thousands of Catholics have gathered at Thai Ha’s Redemptorist Monastery on Saturday to put their support behind six parishioners of Con Dau, Da Nang who will be tried on Oct. 27. Some special services have been held to pray for four men and two women of Con Dau parish who were charged with numerous offenses, typically “disturbing public order, disorderly conduct, and attacking state security officers”.
In Sydney, Australia, a candlelight vigil on Saturday evening, Oct. 23, to pray for the 6 defendants drew thousands of Catholics.
What concerns Vietnamese Catholics the most is that the upcoming trial of the six Catholics of Con Dau is merely a political show of the Vietnamese government who has been struggling to mask the real picture of human and religious rights abuse in Vietnam.
This can be seen evidently in the 16 page report of the Bureau of Investigation of Cam Le, Da Nang which will be used as a legal document to trial the six parishioners according to the Vietnam Criminal Code. Catholics, whose lands were robbed unjustly and themselves were beaten brutally by police, are denounced of “inciting riots, falsely accusing the government, disrespecting the nation, breaking and ridiculing the law, and instigating others to violate it.”
Despite the fact that Vietnamese police have been well notorious for their violence against their victims (and, in fact, beat to death a parishioner of Con Dau), the Bureau and State media have praised the law enforcement officers for their patience and self-constraint depicting them as victims of an organized gang of parishioners who were lured into violence by the six parishioners to be tried.
The confrontation between local Catholics and government authorities in Con Dau parish broke out at the start of this year, when the latter decided to demolish all the houses in the parish (established 135 years ago) to give way to a tourist resort. The land was seized without proper compensation or offer of relocation.
A particularly coveted area is the cemetery; a 10-hectare area located a kilometre from the parish church. Once listed among the government’s protected sites, its value has recently shot up, wetting the appetite of real estate speculators.
On May 4 when police attacked mourners attending the funeral of Maria Tan, an 82-year-old woman, in order to prevent her burial. The clashes lasted more than an hour and led to the arrest of about 70 people.
In a pastoral letter released the day after the incident, Mgr Joseph Chau Ngoc Tri, bishop of Da Nang, slammed the police “for their manhunt” during which they detained people who did not even take part in the funeral.
The authorities eventually arrested six parishioners for “disorderly conduct” and “attacking state security officers”.
In the latest episode, police beat to death Nam Nguyen, 43, on July 3 and terrorized others in a threatening tactic.
A month later, 40 Catholics who had been hunted by police had no other choice than fleeing to Thailand to take refuge. Thanks no doubt to a remarkable international support of the Vietnamese diaspora in the world, especially in the United States and a number of humanitarian organizations, they have been registered as asylum-seekers by the High Commissioner for refugees to the United Nations and met a U.S. delegation investigating their request.
In the latest development, a few days before the trial, on Oct. 22, Hanoi human right lawyers Duong Ha and Cu Huy Ha Vu, who on many occasions have expressed their support for the cause of the six Catholic defendants by voluntarily providing legal aids for them, were denied the permission to defend for them.
In Hanoi, thousands of Catholics have gathered at Thai Ha’s Redemptorist Monastery on Saturday to put their support behind six parishioners of Con Dau, Da Nang who will be tried on Oct. 27. Some special services have been held to pray for four men and two women of Con Dau parish who were charged with numerous offenses, typically “disturbing public order, disorderly conduct, and attacking state security officers”.
In Sydney, Australia, a candlelight vigil on Saturday evening, Oct. 23, to pray for the 6 defendants drew thousands of Catholics.
What concerns Vietnamese Catholics the most is that the upcoming trial of the six Catholics of Con Dau is merely a political show of the Vietnamese government who has been struggling to mask the real picture of human and religious rights abuse in Vietnam.
This can be seen evidently in the 16 page report of the Bureau of Investigation of Cam Le, Da Nang which will be used as a legal document to trial the six parishioners according to the Vietnam Criminal Code. Catholics, whose lands were robbed unjustly and themselves were beaten brutally by police, are denounced of “inciting riots, falsely accusing the government, disrespecting the nation, breaking and ridiculing the law, and instigating others to violate it.”
Despite the fact that Vietnamese police have been well notorious for their violence against their victims (and, in fact, beat to death a parishioner of Con Dau), the Bureau and State media have praised the law enforcement officers for their patience and self-constraint depicting them as victims of an organized gang of parishioners who were lured into violence by the six parishioners to be tried.
The confrontation between local Catholics and government authorities in Con Dau parish broke out at the start of this year, when the latter decided to demolish all the houses in the parish (established 135 years ago) to give way to a tourist resort. The land was seized without proper compensation or offer of relocation.
A particularly coveted area is the cemetery; a 10-hectare area located a kilometre from the parish church. Once listed among the government’s protected sites, its value has recently shot up, wetting the appetite of real estate speculators.
On May 4 when police attacked mourners attending the funeral of Maria Tan, an 82-year-old woman, in order to prevent her burial. The clashes lasted more than an hour and led to the arrest of about 70 people.
In a pastoral letter released the day after the incident, Mgr Joseph Chau Ngoc Tri, bishop of Da Nang, slammed the police “for their manhunt” during which they detained people who did not even take part in the funeral.
The authorities eventually arrested six parishioners for “disorderly conduct” and “attacking state security officers”.
In the latest episode, police beat to death Nam Nguyen, 43, on July 3 and terrorized others in a threatening tactic.
A month later, 40 Catholics who had been hunted by police had no other choice than fleeing to Thailand to take refuge. Thanks no doubt to a remarkable international support of the Vietnamese diaspora in the world, especially in the United States and a number of humanitarian organizations, they have been registered as asylum-seekers by the High Commissioner for refugees to the United Nations and met a U.S. delegation investigating their request.
In the latest development, a few days before the trial, on Oct. 22, Hanoi human right lawyers Duong Ha and Cu Huy Ha Vu, who on many occasions have expressed their support for the cause of the six Catholic defendants by voluntarily providing legal aids for them, were denied the permission to defend for them.