BREAKING NEWS: AT LEAST 7 PROTESTORS ARRESTED IN HANOI BEFORE
TORCH RELAY IN SAIGON
Hanoi =E2=80=93 4/29/08: At 9:15AM this morning, VCP police officers
in
uniformed and plainclothes arrested 7 people at =C3=90=E1=BB=93ng
Xu=C3=A2n =
market, near
Hoan Kiem Lake, in Hanoi.
Two of the protestors, Mr. Nguy=E1=BB=85n Xu=C3=A2n Ngh=C4=A9a, a
writer=
, and Mr. V=C5=A9
H=C3=B9ng, a high school teacher were arrested right after they managed to
hurle several banners that say:
=E2=80=9CBoycott Peking Olympic 2008!=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=9CSpratlys & Paracels Islands belong to Vietnam=E2=80=9D
Others who were arrested included Mr. Vi =C3=90=E1=BB=A9c H=E1=BB=93i,
a=
former high
school principal and a freedom and democracy fighter; Ms. Kim Thu, who
is known for helping =E2=80=9CDan Oan=E2=80=9D (peasants whose home and
land=
have been
confiscated illegally by the VCP, and are now homeless). The rest of
the protestors are Ti=E1=BA=BFn Nam, Nh=E1=BA=A5t and Ng=C3=B4
Qu=E1=BB=B3nh=
, all college students.
Organizers planed to orchestrate a large protest on the occasion
of the torch relay in Saigon, due to Vietnamese people resentment of
China=E2=80=99s recent formalization of their claims to Vietnam=E2=80=99s
Sp=
ratly and
Paracel islands, two oil-rich archipelagos in the South China Sea; and
of the China=E2=80=99s murder of Vietnamese fishermen along the coasts in
North Vietnam.
The demonstration did not materialize due to extremely tight
security given jointly by the VCP and Chinese Communists.
As far as we know, as of near midnight tonight, these protestors
are still being detained without any food.
The free people of Vietnam all over the world is urging you to
call on the VCP government to free these people immediately, and
unconditionally.
These protestors did not break any laws. The right to a peaceful
assembly is currently protected by Vietnam's constitution.
http://www.trangdenonline.com/ArticleDetail.asp?item_id=3D861&
*******************************************************************
INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST INFORMATION BUREAU
(BUREAU INTERNATIONAL D'INFORMATION BOUDDHISTE)
Official information service of Vien Hoa Dao, Unified Buddhist
Church of Vietnam
B.P. 63 - 94472 Boissy Saint L=C3=A9ger cedex (France) - Tel.: Paris
(331) 45 98 30 85
Fax : Paris (331) 45 98 32 61 - E-mail : ubcv.ibib@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web : http://www.queme.net
For immediate release
Paris, 29 April 2008
Buddhist dissident leader Thich Quang Do seeks to joins protests
at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch relay in Saigon
PARIS, 29 April 2008 (IBIB) - The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do,
prominent dissident and second-ranking leader of the outlawed Unified
Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) left house arrest to attend a rally
protesting the Beijing 2008 Olympics torch relay in Ho Chi Minh City
today, but found the streets blocked with Security and riot police. He
was responding to an appeal launched by young Vietnamese students and
activists to protest China =E2=80=99s claims of sovereignty over the
Spratly=
and Paracel archipelagos and mark the UBCV=E2=80=99s solidarity with
repress=
ed
Buddhist monks and civilians in Tibet .
Thich Quang Do, who is under house arrest at the Thanh Minh Zen
Monastery in Saigon, told Vo Van Ai, Director of the International
Buddhist Information Bureau by telephone that he had taken advantage
of his monthly hospital check-up to escape house arrest and attend the
rally. =E2=80=9CI am only allowed out once a month, and luckily, it was
today=E2=80=9D. He left his monastery early, and went straight from
hospital=
to the Notre Dame Cathedral where the rally was secretly planned. He
found the area completely blocked by Security Police, with vehicle
access denied all around the Opera House, where the Olympic torch
parade was set to begin. Thich Quang Do waited from 3.40pm until after
5.00pm, but saw no banners nor any sign of demonstrators. He told Vo
Van Ai that the rally had clearly been pre-empted by security forces,
who had orders to prevent all incidents and ensure =E2=80=9Cabsolute
security=E2=80=9D.
=E2=80=9CThere were no protesters. But the streets were filled with
youn=
g
Chinese waving China =E2=80=99s five-star red flags, singing loudly and
shouting out slogans. This made me feel terribly sad. In Vietnam
today, young Chinese can proudly parade their flag. Whereas young
Vietnamese, the children of this land, whose ancestors shed their
blood to preserve our territory, civilisation and our identity, are
forbidden by their own government, in their own land, from expressing
their national pride and protesting this indignity=E2=80=9D. He deplored
tha=
t
=E2=80=9C Vietnam is too cowardly to confront China to claim back its
lands.=
And when the people do it for them, instead of encouraging them to
stand up for their country, the government represses them and treats
them as criminals=E2=80=9D.
Jean Libby, editor
VietAm Review
http://vietamreview.blogharbor.com
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