VIETNAM ASKED TO FREE JAILED CATHOLICS

03-09-2008

HANOI, Vietnam, SEPT. 2, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A religious congregation in Vietnam is asking authorities to free four Catholics who were arrested during a protest last week.

The Redemptorists of Hanoi sent a letter Friday to President Nguyen Minh Triet and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in which they recounted how a peaceful protest turned violent Thursday, reported AsiaNews.it.

Redemptorists and the parishioners of Thai Ha gathered in prayer on the land of the convent and parish of Thai Ha, protesting the illegitimate seizure of the property of the congregation.

"Our parishioners were holding a peaceful prayer vigil at the gate of Department of Public Safety of Dong Da district," the letter read, "intending to request the department to comply with the law, ending illegal detention of innocent people and release those who were arrested during an illegal raid."

"Many policemen from mobile units," the account continued, "had used electrical batons and others supporting tools to break down and assault the prayer vigil participants barbarously."

The Redemptorists state that "numerous parishioners were seriously wounded during the vigil, others were beaten unconscious, and others were arrested; since then, there is no news of them."

The congregation appealed additionally to the government to declare unconstitutional and illegal the procedure used by the local authorities to confiscate the land belonging to them and to the Thai Ha Parish.
http://www.zenit.org/article-23531?l=english