Ho Chi Minh City, Catholic activists arrested and beaten by police
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) - The Vietnamese police have arrested and brutally beaten two Catholic pro-human rights activists, in the latest violent attack on internal dissidents fighting for freedom in the Communist country. The two activists were arrested in the town of Van Dinh, while traveling from Ho Chi Minh City to their villages of origin in the Central Highlands.
Speaking to Radio Free Asia (RFA), ne of the two men, Tran Minh Nhat, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that more than 10 policemen stopped his car around 6 a.m., forced him to get out, beat him and took him to the local police station.
They also took Chu Manh Son, who was with Nhat, to the police station as the pair was heading to their homes in Da Don village, Lam Ha district, in Lam Dong province. “They wrote up a report that I violated a probation I was under,” Nhat said. “Their evidence was that they went to my house but did not see me there. I told them that I was not on any probation, because the court did not sentence me to it and that I never admitted to any crime related to overthrowing the government, so that any sentence in prison or probation wasn’t valid in my case". He also explained he reported to authorities that he would go to Ho Chi Minh City for a health checkup, receive a certificate, buy some items and attend a service.
Tran Minh Nhat, who works for the Vietnam Redemptorist News, was arrested in August 2011, and sentenced to four years in prison and three years of house arrest.When he was released in August of this year, four human rights defenders, including Chu Manh Son, were beaten by police and unidentified individuals after a celebration marking Nhat’s release.
During his recent interrogation, Nhat remained silent and prayed. Police tried to force a confession but he remained resolutely silent. He was accused of following a Redemptorist priest, charged with operating "against the state".
Meanwhile authorities gathered members of the communist National Front and Youth Union from the village, who criticized Nhat and told him to write a letter admitting to his wrongdoings, although he refused. Eventually they released him without any count of indictment.
Chu Manh Son, in the forefront in protests against Chinese imperialism in the South China Sea, was detained and beaten together with the journalist. After his release, he returned to Ho Chi Minh City.
Their story - such as those of Le Quoc Quan, Cu Huy Ha Vu and dozens of other bloggers and activists in prison – further confirms the Communist leaders ruthless clampdown on internal dissent. Authorities are even targeting religious leaders, including Buddhists and Catholics, or entire communities as happened in the past in the diocese of Vinh, where the media and government led a vicious smear campaign and targeted attacks against the bishop and the faithful.
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