‘Mennonite Six’ Allowed Family Visits

(Compass) – On August 23, the mother of Mennonite evangelists Nguyen Huu Nghia and Nguyen Thanh Nhan was allowed to visit her imprisoned sons for the first time since their arrest in Ho Chi Minh City , Vietnam , on March 2. It took nearly six months for the brothers’ family to get permission for the visit, despite a Vietnamese law stipulating that prisoners must be allowed visitors within the first 30 days of incarceration. Authorities have allowed visitors for three more of the “Mennonite Six,” as the prisoners have come to be known. Pham Ngoc Thach, Nguyen Van Phuong and the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang have received family members in the respective Ho Chi Minh City police jails where they are incarcerated while awaiting charges. However, officials have denied visits for female evangelist Le Thi Hong Lien, arrested in early July, on the grounds that she is “hard-headed and uncooperative.” According to sources, authorities are working hard to put the Mennonite Six on trial as soon as possible, perhaps by early September.