AsiaNews: Catholic activists and students to be put on trial in Vietnam very soon

Five Catholic activists are scheduled to be tried shortly on charges of belonging to a banned US based Vietnamese group, the Vietnam Reform Party (Viet Tan), and of "working to overthrow the people’s administration through non-violence."

Half a million Vietnamese Catholics marched through the streets of Hanoi on July 20 to protest against harassment and police violence. The government has since intensified a crackdown on the Christian community, jailing several, including the Catholic journalist and blogger Paulus le Son, who has been detained since August 3 on similar charges, and Catholic priest Fr. Nguyen Van Ly,  jailed since July 25.

Fr Le Ngoc Thanh, spokesman for the Redemptorists of Vietnam, has slammed the government’s oppressive practices, calling on the authorities to release unconditionally the jailed Catholics.

Looking at the ‘Risen Christ’, the clergyman told AsiaNews, “We are raising our voice against the violations of the law by the police, which is arresting and jailing people,” and “turning a peaceful nation into a place where kidnapping and terrorism happen everywhere”.

Fr. Nguyen Van Ly