8/29/11 Vietnam (Spero News) – A group of Vietnamese Catholics taken into custody a few weeks ago by police are set to go on trial shortly on charges of trying to “overthrow the people’s administration”. In the past week, Vietnamese authorities have cracked down on dissidents, arresting dozens of people. Catholics and Protestants are among those detained; they were protesting against the seizure of Church property and the Vietnamese government’s subordination to China over maritime borders in the South China Sea.

Recently, police said that a group of Catholics from Vinh diocese, arrested in late July and currently held at Hanoi’s 14 B temporary internment camp, would go before a court for trying to “overthrow the people’s administration”, in accordance with Clause 2, Article 79, of the Vietnam Penal Code. The five men are Peter Ho Duc Hoa, 37, Jean Baptiste Nguyen Van Oai, 31, Francis Dang Xuan Dieu, 32, Peter Nguyen Xuan Anh, 29, and Joseph Nguyen Van Duyet, 31.

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In recent weeks, Vietnamese authorities have arrested and tried many activists, using the power of mass media to reiterate “false charges” against them in order to discredit their action.

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Christians and ordinary Vietnamese have organised torchlight processions and prayer vigils across the country to demand the release of Catholic and Protestant activists and students.