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News
November 25, 2002
Priest's
Relatives on Trial in Vietnam for Spying
PARIS, (Zenit) - Two nephews and a niece
of a priest, regarded as a champion of religious liberty in Vietnam, are facing
trial on charges of espionage.
According to Eglises d'Asie, the foreign missions agency of Paris, the People's
Court of Ho Chi Minh City could hand down severe sentences, including the death
penalty, against the three relatives of Father Thaddeus Nguyên Van Ly.
Among the accused is Nguyên Thi Hoa, widow and mother of four, arrested on June
19, 2001.
The other two accused are her younger brothers, Nguyên Vu Viet and Nguyên Truc
Cuong, born in 1975 and 1967, respectively, and arrested on June 13 and 18,
2001.
The three are accused of maintaining relations with Vietnamese groups in the
United States, in particular, with one of the directors of Quê Huong radio of
San Jose, California, as well as with Ngo Thi Hien, president of the Commission
for Religious Liberty in Vietnam, exiled in the United States.
Father Ly, promoter of a campaign in favor of religious liberty, was arrested in
May 2001 and sentenced last October to 15 years in prison.
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