Sun Feb 25, 4:23 PM ET
HANOI (AFP) – Vietnamese police opened an official investigation into a dissident Catholic priest, accusing him of propaganda against the state, a newspaper’s website reported Sunday.
Police in Hue “decided to open an investigation against Father Nguyen Van Ly for the accusation of propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on February 24”, the Vietnamese daily newspaper Tuoi Tre’s Internet site reported.
Earlier Sunday, the priest’s supporters said Vietnamese security forces had transferred Ly, 59, from his home to a more isolated parish, calling the move part of a human rights crackdown.
Ly, a pro-democracy activist in the central city of Hue, was taken from his house Saturday by some 60 public security officers, said a California-based spokesman for the outlawed Vietnam Reform Party.
Ly, a member of Vietnam’s “Bloc 8406” pro-democracy coalition — which is also banned in the one-party state — has spent a total of 14 years in prison since 1983, but was released in a 2005 amnesty.
Last Sunday, police again raided his Hue home and those of other activists. Ly had been under house arrest since, with police stationed outside his home, said various pro-democracy groups.
The communist government last week confirmed the “administrative check” and said Ly was being investigated for “undermining national unity.”
The state-run Vietnam News Agency accused Ly of “inciting and gathering some elements against the authority.”
On Saturday afternoon, police moved in again, and “Father Nguyen Van Ly was taken to Ben Cui parish, a small and isolated Catholic parish located 20 kilometres from Hue,” said the Vietnam Reform Party, citing local witnesses.
“Relocation of a Catholic priest is the sole authority of the bishop, but the Vietnamese authorities have removed Father Nguyen Van Ly and placed him at a different parish without the consent of the Archbishop of Hue.
“This action is regarded as an effort by the regime to further isolate Father Nguyen Van Ly. No one has contact with Father Ly at the moment.”
The police moves come weeks after Vietnam signalled greater religious tolerance, and follow a landmark January 25 meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in the Vatican.
But the Vietnam Reform Party said the raids were part of a crackdown on pro-democracy activists that followed Vietnam’s recent diplomatic successes, including hosting an Asia-Pacific summit last year and gaining WTO entry.
“The crackdown was indeed anticipated,” said the Vietnam Reform Party activist. “If no international pressure is put on the regime, the chances of a further widespread crackdown are big.”
Hue police and Catholic officials contacted on Sunday said they did not know of the latest incident. Local pro-democracy activists could not be reached because their phone lines appeared to have been disconnected.