Pastor's wife subjected to intense interrogation for meeting with US officials in Vietnam
The wife of a Vietnamese pastor reportedly went through an intense interrogation with authorities last week in connection with her meeting with U.S. officials in March.
Tran Thi Hong said she was told to report to the authorities on Wednesday, May 11. When she refused and said she couldn't come because she was still recovering from injuries she had suffered at the hands of the authorities last month, representatives from the Vietnamese Women's Union went to her house and forced her to come with them.
Hong said she was interrogated for hours. Ten people from the Vietnamese Fatherland Front, the People's Committee, the Women's Union, the city police and the provincial police took turns in asking her questions about her meeting with the U.S. officials. The ordeal went on for hours.
"I was very tired during the talk," Hong said, as reported by RFA. "They checked my blood pressure and saw that I was tired. They interrogated me about my meeting with the U.S. delegation on religious freedom on March 30. They told me the meeting was a violation of Vietnamese law."
On March 30, Hong met with David Saperstein, the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom. They were supposed to meet in a hotel, but authorities reportedly harassed and prevented her from reaching the hotel. The meeting was then transferred to her home in the presence of the local authorities.
One of the things they were supposed to discuss in the meeting was the case of Hong's husband, Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, who was imprisoned for "undermining national unity." Chinh is known to promote religious freedom in Vietnam.
About two weeks after Hong met with Saperstein in her home, she was forcibly taken to an office where she was beaten and asked about her discussion with the U.S. ambassador. Hong, who suffered abuse for three hours, sustained severe injuries, according to a report from Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
During her second interrogation on May 11, Hong stood firm that there was nothing wrong with her talking to Saperstein. She said her human rights are being violated with the constant police surveillance and harassment, which she has endured since her husband was arrested. She demanded that the unfair treatment be stopped.
