Dissident monk under house arrest in Vietnam
A senior monk involved in a lengthy stand-off with Vietnamese security forces last week has been placed under house arrest for two
years. The order against Thich Nguyen Ly, the treasurer of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, came into effect on Saturday.
The AFP news agency says the monk is alleged to have violated national security legislation. The Paris-based International
Buddhist Information Bureau - the church's overseas information arm - says two other monks involved in the stand-off have also been
placed under house arrest for two years.
Police blocked the vehicle the three monks were travelling in for ten hours last Wednesday in the central province of Binh Dinh. They
had been accompanying the church's patriarch, Thich Huyen Quang, and his deputy, Thich Quang Do, from Binh Dinh to Ho Chi
Minh City.
The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was outlawed in 1981 because it refused to become part of the state-sanctioned Buddhist
church.
ABC Radio Australia News - October 14, 2003
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