Compiled bo DVOV, August 3, 2012
In the morning of August 2, 2012, J.B Nguyen Huu Vinh, a journalist associated with the Catholic news media, was prevented from taking his ailing mother to Singapore for medical treatment. As soon as Mr. Vinh and his mother arrived at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi, two public security officers accosted them and led them into an office where they informed them that the Hanoi public security department has suspended Mr. Vinh’s right to travel outside of the country.
The officers refused to give the reason for the suspension and did not honor Mr. Vinh’s request to see the official order.
Over the past decade, JB Nguyen Huu Vinh has authored many articles about the government’s oppression of the Catholic Church and the victims of the government’s illegal land seizure. In addition, he has written several articles lauding his countrymen’s patriotism in the face of China’s territorial encroachment.
In 2010, when Mr. Vinh went to see other Catholics in Dong Chiem who were being victimized by public security officers and hired hoodlums, he was also beaten by these agents of oppression. In view of the various materials that he has posted either at his blog or on other websites, he is viewed as a courageous defender of the Catholic Church.
In the past two years, Vietnam has imposed this restriction on a number of religious leaders, including Rev. Phạm Trung Thanh – Redemptorist Provincial Superior, Rev. Dinh Huu Thoai, Chief of Staff of the Redemptorist Order, and Rev. Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong of Thai Ha Parish.
