Vietnamese monk faces trial
A dissident monk, who was granted United Nations refugee
status in Cambodia, has been repatriated to Vietnam and is
facing trial.
The International Buddhist Information Bureau in Paris said Thich Tri
Luc, who was reported missing last July, had been forcibly repatriated to
Vietnam last July after he sought asylum in Cambodia.
The organisation said the monk, a member of the banned Unified
Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), was awaiting trial in Ho Chi Minh
city.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Cambodia said it had
contacted the Vietnamese authorities to urge a fair trial for the monk.
It said the monk's refugee status had not been rescinded even though
he was now back in his own country.
It is not clear when his trial will be held.
The Unified Buddhist Church said Luc "disappeared on the night of 25
July, 2002, in (the) company of an unidentified Vietnamese man",
according to Reuters news agency.
Thich Tri Luc and other Church leaders have been subject to detention
and harassment by the communist authorities over their calls for
religious freedom and democracy.
The Vietnamese authorities' treatment of religious leaders has led to
condemnation from the European Union.
In January, the ruling Communist Party central committee passed a
resolution further tightening its control over the six approved religious
movements.
However, in April, the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Phan Van Khai,
surprised his critics by holding talks with the leader of the UBCV, Thich
Huyen Quang, who has been under house arrest in central Vietnam ever
since the group was banned.
BBC News - August 14, 2003.
|