Vietnam: Protestant Pastor Dinh Diem Imprisoned on Allegation of Subversion
Event- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 12, 2018
- Event Description
On July 12, the People's Court in the central province of Quang Ngai convicted Protestant pastor Dinh Diem on allegation of being ""engaged in subversive activities to overthrow the people's government" under Article 109 of the country's 2015 Penal Code. Pastor Diem, belonging to an unsanctioned Lutheran Church, was sentenced to 16 years in prison by the court, according to the state media. He was arrested on January 5 this year. He was said to join a US-based organisation called "Vietnam's Provisional Government" led by Vietnamese American Dao Minh Quan. State media has also reported that 12 other members of Vietnam's Provisional Government will be tried under the same charge on July 16-19. Pastor Diem was a member of the unregistered organization Vietnam Inter-faith Council which works for enhancing the right to freedom of religions and beliefs. Vietnam's authorities have forced him to withdraw from the organization. He was also a member of Fulro, an organization of ethnic minorities fighting for autonomyof the indigenouspeople in Vietnam's Central Highlands. Vietnam's communist regime considers Fulro as a reactionary group.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Extrajudicial Killing
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Freedom of religion/belief activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 14.058323999999992
Longitude: 108.277199
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On July 15 2018, protestant pastor Dinh Diem, a storng defender of freedom of religion and belief, and an adovcate of minority rights, was imprisoned on allegation of being "__�engaged in subversive activities to overthrow the people's government" under Article 109 of the country's 2015 Penal Code.