February 12, 2016
During the Lunar New Year, Lam Ha Police harassed and threatened my family for the seventh time in just over a month. The Lam Ha Police set fire onto dry coffee plants adjacent to my house right after midnight on February 10. This arson attack was only 10 meters away from my home. The fire was so large it took eight people over four hours in the early morning to contain it.
My family and I have faced several acts of harassment prior to this incident. On the eve and evening of the Lunar New Year, our house was stoned. Just two days before this incident, Lam Ha Police swerved into my father’s motorcycle and threatened to beat my older brother Tran Khac Duong to death.
My family has received ongoing threats for my peaceful advocacy for religious freedom, human rights and democracy. On February 7, three officers from Lam Ha Police threatened us, saying “you dogs will pay for your actions. We hope you die.” An officer named Long said to my family, “we will make you kneel down asking for mercy.”
These threats and acts of harassment from the Vietnamese authorities have been ongoing since I was released from prison in August last year. During the Christmas and New Year season, my family’s crops were destroyed, irrigation equipment damaged, property break-ins and stoning of our home. These incidents were investigated by police without any conclusion.
My family and friends have been continually harassed by local police. Activists who visited me after I was released from prison were ambushed by police and physically beaten upon leaving. My nieces and nephews who come over to my home to study have been threatened by police and barred from studying at my home by their school. I was beaten and taken to the police station when I was leaving from a medical clinic on November 18, 2015.
I call on the support of international organisations in the hope that these ongoing acts of intimidation and police harassment stop immediately for the safety of my family and activists across Vietnam.
