Vietnam’s Christians, Buddhists campaign for release of jailed Catholics

March 04, 2013 - Families and friends of the Catholics jailed by Vietnamese authorities for subversion in January have launched a public awareness campaign, which includes a petition signed by Christian and Buddhist religious leaders. The goal of the organizers is to make the population aware about the use of "illegal procedures" for the arrest and unjust conviction of the group. The initiative was publicized by the younger brother of one of the people in prison; approached by the online radio Radio Free Asia (RFA), he said that the indictment is unjust, based on trumped-up charges which imprison "innocent" people. The public awareness movement kicked off on Jan. 27, with a petition entitled "Protest against an illegal trial, which was held in Vinh on 8 and 9 January 2013." Two such groups, without any political affiliation, working in the north and the south, are only expressing the "opinions and sentiments" of their family members. By mid-February over 10 thousand signatures had been collected, among two Catholic bishops and a religious leader from the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, not recognized by the government and often subject to persecution and abuse. The Venerable Thich Khong Tanh wanted to join the campaign to "defend justice and democracy in the country."