Vietnamese Court Reschedules Appeal for Pastor

(Compass) – Lawyers defending the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang informed his wife last week that his appeal before the People’s Supreme Court of Vietnam has been rescheduled for April 12. The new date allows the defense just 12 days to prepare its appeal on behalf of Quang and fellow Mennonite pastor Pham Ngoc Thach, imprisoned since last year on questionable charges of resisting police officers. Three of the original “Mennonite Six” prisoners, now free, said they suffered torture and deprivation during their imprisonment to persuade them to testify against Quang. Meanwhile, Le Thi Hong Lien, the 21-year-old children’s Bible teacher convicted along with Quang and Thach, was transferred to the Bien Hoa Mental Hospital at the end of February. Lien’s father said he thinks prison officials “violate the rights of women and their privacy, especially my daughter’s.”