its facilities and the adjacent home of Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, one of six Mennonite Christians who were previously jailed for their church activities.
Secretly recorded video footage seen by BosNewsLife showed uniformed security forces and secret police in plain clothes shouting at the pastor and other believers during Monday’s raid. Soon after church members were apparently beaten by Vietnamese police.
Local Christians said the officers forced their way into the building, kicked down doors and threatened construction workers and others by punching and wielding nightsticks as well as electric cattle prods.
Several church members were badly injured as a result of being pushed from a height of five meters to the concrete floor, local Christians said. In the recording viewed by BosNewsLife, women could be heard crying as security forces continued to use force against the Christians. At least one security member tried to destroy the metal roof with a slash hammer above the complex in Binh Khanh Ward of District Two.
STOP "HOOLIGANS"
Pastor Quang tried to stop the destruction saying, "If I did anything wrong, you can file a report to the court, but you can not perform as such hooligans," according to a transcript obtained by BosNewsLife. Soon after, the pastor was briefly detained along with other former Mennonite prisoners Pham Ngoc Thach, Nguyen Huu Nghia and Le Thi Hong Lien, as police apparently objected to the use of a building permit used by the church, local Christians said.
During the raid, authorities claimed that the construction work exceeded the scope of the permit, but Christians suggested the real reason may be rooted in the hostility of local officials towards the church.
As the attack continued, the pastor’s wife managed to contact Radio Free Asia, BosNewsLife learned. An emotional Nguyen Thi Phu Dung told the network that her husband was arrested and some of his followers who helped him on the house reconstruction "were wounded by brutal beatings." She said his sister, Le Thi Hong Lien, fainted and "was pulled along the road by the police."
Our "house is destroyed. and the neighbors were intimidated or being jailed if they dare to voice to advocate for him," she added, according to a transcript.
CHRISTIANS RELEASED
All detained Christians were released the following evening, but concern remained over the future of the congregation, which has been attacked several times. "This is a disturbingly draconian response by the officials to a relatively minor issue [over a building permit]," said Tina Lambert, Advocacy Director at advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
"As Vietnam looks to claim the benefits of World Trade Organization membership, this must be accompanied by a much greater respect for the rights of its citizens. We hope that this issue is resolved without further complications," Lambert told BosNewsLife.
The raid came as a major setback for Pastor Quang, known for his fight for religious and democratic rights in the Communist nation. He was one of six Christians, who became known as the Mennonite Six, after being sentenced to terms ranging from six months to three years in connection with an incident in March 2004.
Pham Ngoc Thach, an evangelist, was the last of the six to be released in March this year. (With BosNewsLife Research, BosNewsLife News Center and reports from Vietnam).
