ICC Note:
A Catholic priest in Vietnam says that plainclothes police blocked him and other priests from attending a Catholic service. The priest said police began to monitor his movements a few days ago and had been watching his house. The priest is among a group of three priests that the government has classified as “dissidents.” He has spoken out against the government’s repression of civil society groups and maintained contact with a monastery that has been subjected to government land grabs. Vietnam is a communist country that purports to protect religious freedoms. In reality, church leaders and members are harassed and imprisoned for their faith.
2/4/2017 Vietnam (Radio Free Asia) – Plainclothes police in the central Vietnamese city of Hue blocked a group of Roman Catholic priests from attending a church service on Thursday, one of the priests said.
Rev. Phan Van Loi told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that local officers resumed monitoring his activities after the five-day Tet holiday, Vietnam’s annual New Year celebration which fell on Jan. 28-Feb. 1 this year.
“I asked them why they were blocking me from attending church services,” he said. “I asked if they were police. Of course, I knew they were police because I had previously seen them around my house.”
“We demanded that they show us their IDs, but one man said they were not policemen,” he said. “I told them that even if they wear plainclothes, they are still Thua Thien Hue province policemen.”
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