Vietnamese priest faces state wrath over Covid fund criticism

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A Catholic priest in Vietnam has been criticized by authorities and state media for criticizing governments’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Father Joseph Dinh Huu Thoai, priest in Quang Nam province in central Vietnam, has received verbal attacks and threats since he wrote critical Facebook posts about the government’s creation of a Fund national campaign for Covid-19 vaccines and a call for citizens to contribute to it, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported.

On October 2, the Quang Nams provincial television station aired a report accusing Father Thoai of sullying and distorting the party and the states’ struggle against Covid-19.

It came a day after a newspaper run by the Ministry of Public Security published an article that said Father Thoai must be treated by the authorities because he had broken the country’s cybersecurity law.

The priest denied the allegations and said the campaign against him was defamatory.

So far, no responsible agency has confirmed the violations I may have committed, and no record of violations has been made. This is completely defamatory, the priest told RFA on October 4.

In fact, it is the people who attack those who speak out who are the offenders because they have violated peoples’ right to freedom of expression.

He also said that Quang Nams’ Information and Communications Department invited him to meet three times about his positions. The priest said he refused to speak, largely because authorities recently shut down his Facebook account without any explanation, rendering the question irrelevant.

Father Thoai said that it is reasonable and legitimate for any citizen to question the transparency of the vaccine fund and that it cannot be a violation of the law.

In fact, it is the people who attack those who speak out who are the offenders because they have violated the people’s right to freedom of expression, he said, adding that the state media enjoy the rights. impunity, spread false stories and target anyone who criticizes the government.

Father Thoai, a member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (commonly known as the Redemptorists), worked for years in a Redemptorist mission to support poor and disabled South Vietnamese soldiers who have suffered in misery since the end of the war. from Vietnam in 1975..

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Currently deputy parish priest, he has been a staunch defender of human rights and religious freedom in Vietnam, sparking a backlash from the communist regime.

In 2011 he was banned from traveling to Cambodia and in 2018 he was banned from traveling to the United States to visit relatives and friends.

Vietnam had successfully tackled previous episodes of the pandemic with strict border controls, tests, closures and quarantine measures. However, the Delta variant has taken its toll in recent months amid a slow vaccination schedule.

The country has recorded 818,324 cases and 19,979 deaths from the coronavirus, according to worldometers.info. About 10.9 million Vietnamese, or about 11.2 percent of the population, have been fully immunized.

The government created the vaccine fund at the end of May to obtain donations to purchase and import vaccines as well as to fund research to produce vaccines. The fund received donations equivalent to US $ 384 million from individuals and organizations in Vietnam and abroad.

Authorities have come under nationwide criticism after calling on officials, civil servants and employees to pay the fund a day’s wages, with many questioning governments’ silence on what is being done with the interest money in the bank.

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