Pastor Quang released 26/09/2005
The Reverend Than Van Truong imprisoned.
Celebrated Christian leader, Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, of the Vietnam Mennonite Church (VMC), was released from prison on 30 August, less than half way though his three year sentence.
His release follows a year of intense lobbying by CSW; a year which has seen five of the six original Mennonite prisoners freed from prison. Sadly, Evangelist Pham Ngoc Thach remains in prison. CSW believes all six to be victims of state persecution.
Pastor Quang returns to a Vietnam which has seen little improvement for Christians. His own church in Ho Chi Minh City, led by his wife, Le Thi Phu Dzung, 31, has been raided over 80 times by the authorities and in July workmen demolished part of the church and the first floor apartment belonging to the Quang family.
Despite three official documents being introduced in the last year, which have supposedly made it easier for churches to carry out their activities, Vietnamese Christians have reported ongoing persecution.
Amongst the most disturbing reports reaching CSW has been the story of a senior Baptist leader who has been declared insane, simply because he is a Christian.
The Reverend Than Van Truong, 55, is currently imprisoned in the Bien Hoa Mental Hospital, Dong Nai Province, south eastern Vietnam.
He used to be a member of the Communist Party, fought in the Vietnam War, and developed war-related disabilities.
When he converted to Christianity, he sent Bibles to top Communist Party leaders including Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, challenging them to abandon Marxist-Leninism and to become believers.
He was initially charged and arrested in May 2003, accused of ‘propagandizing to destroy the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’. After his latest arrest, he was transferred in September 2004 to the mental hospital, where he has been administered potentially harmful medicines.
Pastor Truong has insisted that he is perfectly sane, a diagnosis which was supported by a doctor at the hospital.
CSW will continue to campaign for religious freedom in Vietnam.