Vietnamese pastor’s wife mistreated by authorities during questioning

(Reuters/Kham)A man waters flowers in front of a poster promoting the 14th National Assembly election on a street in Hanoi, Vietnam, May 20, 2016.

(Reuters/Kham)A man waters flowers in front of a poster promoting the 14th National Assembly election on a street in Hanoi, Vietnam, May 20, 2016.

During the questioning, Vietnamese police reportedly told Hong to sign a prepared statement claiming she knew that meeting with the ambassador was illegal. However, she refused to sign the statement, prompting four female officers to beat her up for hours.

christiandaily | May 29, 2016

The wife of a Vietnamese pastor was severely mistreated and beaten up by authorities during a questioning, according to reports.

Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, a Vietnamese freedom activist, was jailed in 2012 for his alleged involvement in accusations against the government’s suppression of religion freedom. On May 11, it was his wife Tran Thi Hong’s turn to be questioned by Vietnamese authorities about her “illegal” Lutheran faith and her links to foreign media, Worthy News relays.

Barnabas Aid says the abuse was part of a move to harass the Christian couple. It is not the first time that she was picked up by Vietnamese authorities for questioning. In March, security agents also questioned her over her meeting with the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large on International Religious Freedom. After the interrogation, Hong was left with injuries to her head, hands, legs, and feet.

During the questioning, Vietnamese police reportedly told Hong to sign a prepared statement claiming she knew that meeting with the ambassador was illegal. However, she refused to sign the statement, prompting four female officers to beat her up for hours.

Meanwhile, Christian charity Open Doors said U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Vietnam helped raise awareness about the persecution of Christians in the country. Tania Corbett, an official from the charity, highlighted the difficulty of Christians’ situation in the country by saying Vietnam ranks 20th on the World Watch List, Premier details.

“You are seen as an enemy of the state, it’s a Communist country, where they often see Christians as spies for the West,” said Corbett. “It’ll highlight that there are restrictions on religious freedom in Vietnam and that by raising awareness of that and by highlighting that issue more pressure will be brought to bear on the authorities there to allow people greater freedom,” she continued.

During the visit, Obama called on the Vietnamese government to give its people more freedom and improve the human rights situation in the country. He said the move would improve the country’s economy and stability.