VZCZCXRO3264
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH
DE RUEHHM #0065 0230805
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 230805Z JAN 09
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5344
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 3545
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY PRIORITY 5580

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000065 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/AWH AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV PREL VM
SUBJECT: THE TRIAL OF PASTOR NGUYEN THI HONG 
 
REF: A) 08 HCMC 1035    B) 07 HCMC 776 AND PREVIOUS   C) 08 HCMC 815 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The HCMC People's Court sentenced Mennonite 
pastor Nguyen Thi Hong to three years in jail on charges related 
to outstanding debts owed by her deceased first husband on 
January 15, 2009.  Pastor Hong, a long time political dissident 
married to democracy activist Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang of the 
unrecognized Mennonite church, was arrested in November 2007. 
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has 
requested a meeting with Hong during their proposed February 
visit.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On November 2, 2007, Mennonite pastor Nguyen Thi Hong 
was arrested and detained on a warrant issued in 1999 alleging 
Ms. Hong was responsible for debts of approximately 450 million 
VND in loans taken out by her first husband to finance their 
property development business.  In 1996, the company went 
bankrupt and Pastor Hong was forced to sell her assets to repay 
some of their debts.  Pastor Hong's husband was then killed in a 
traffic accident, leaving her with five children to raise. 
Pastor Hong moved in with her cousin, who introduced her to the 
Mennonite faith. 
 
¶3. (SBU) According to her lawyer, Mr. Tran Vu Hai, and her 
second husband, Mennonite Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, Hong's 
former company owed outstanding debts to a construction company 
in Vinh Long and to a private citizen, Mr. Cong.  Pastor Hong 
paid a portion of the debt to Mr. Cong's family, but was never 
able to settle all debts to the Vinh Long-based company.  Mr. 
Cong's family eventually signed a request to waive Pastor Hong 
of criminal charges.  As Mr. Hai pointed out during Hong's 
January 15 trial, Vietnamese law during the late 1990s also 
waived criminal liabilities for businesses that went bankrupt 
due to the Asian financial crisis.  Pastor Hong's family members 
and ten supporters attended her trial, which ended with 
prosecutors sentencing her to three years in prison.  When asked 
why the police decided to charge Hong on an eight-year old 
warrant after plaintiffs had already dropped the charges, Hai 
speculated that police used the warrant as an excuse to 
prosecute Pastor Hong after she was arrested in November 2007 as 
a result of her political activism. 
 
Hong's Arrest Politically Motivated 
----------------------------------- 
¶4. (SBU) Pastor Hong's current husband, Pastor Quang, is a 
well-known political activist who broke with the mainstream 
Vietnam Mennonite Church in 2004.  Quang, who was jailed briefly 
in 2004 for public disorder and resisting arrest, is a Bloc 8406 
manifesto signatory and close associate of Dr. Nguyen Dan Que 
(ref A). Quang said prior to her arrest, Pastor Hong was active 
in the land rights movement, including supplying food and water 
to HCMC land protestors during their month-long demonstration in 
front of the Southern National Assembly Office (ref B).  Quang 
also said that Hong spend time preaching to factory workers in 
Binh Duong provinces and visiting political prisoners like 
PalTalk activist Truong Quoc Huy and United Workers Farmers 
Organization (UWFO) spokesman Tran Quoc Hien in jail.  During 
the trial, prosecutors also said Pastor Hong's participation in 
the "illegal Mennonite church" was under investigation. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: Hong's conviction on long-expired charges 
recalls the September 2008 trial of blogger Dieu Cay, who was 
convicted of tax evasion despite legal evidence of his innocence 
(ref C).  Both cases are examples of how authorities in Vietnam 
appear to be turning away from using national security 
provisions in favor of more subtle, yet equally effective, means 
to silence dissenters. End comment. 
 
¶6. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi. 
 
FAIRFAX