Hanoi, Vietnam, Apr 8, 2008 / 20:06 pm
Catholics who seek to recover government-confiscated land continued their demonstrations after the expiration of a Monday deadline set by a government ultimatum that threatened “extreme action” and demanded that the protests cease.
A standoff between demonstrators and police continues, CNA has learned. At last word from sources in Vietnam, hundreds of religious and lay people were gathered outside the compound praying when the ultimatum expired. Plain clothes and uniformed police officers could be seen resorting to previously used intimidation tactics involving photographing and videotaping the protesters.
Father J. B. An Dang, a Vietnamese priest, told CNA that the demonstrations have been taking place near the confiscated property, which consists of 15 acres of land purchased by the Redemptorist religious order in 1928. Most of the Redemptorists were jailed or deported after the Communist takeover in 1954, leaving a local priest in charge of the land.
Despite the pastor’s protests, local government authorities have seized the parish’s land one section at a time. The 15-acre plot has been reduced to about half an acre.