A human rights lawyer and activist in Vietnam was attacked by unidentified suspects outside his home.
According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Vietnamese lawyer Nguyen Van Dai was threatened by "thugs" outside his home on March 5. The next day, the same people attacked his house and destroyed part of the door.
Nguyen claimed to have called the local police, but he "received no assistance."
After the incident, security operatives and the attackers placed Nguyen under constant surveillance, and Nguyen was not able to leave his home. CSW also said that the thugs were aggressive towards the lawyer's family.
Nguyen has provided persecuted Vietnamese Christians with legal advice and representation in his capacity as a human rights lawyer and activist. Aside from Christians, Nguyen has also worked with other people who have had their rights violated by the Vietnamese government. He was sentenced to jail in 2007 for "disseminating slanderous and libellous information against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," in violation of Article 88 of the country's Penal Code.
Article 88 prohibits "conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" by publishing and disseminating information that is critical of the government or news that it considers "false."
Nguyen was released from prison in 2011 but was subjected to house arrest for four years. The attack happened just as Nguyen's house arrest was coming to an end.
CSW condemned the attacks.
"These attacks on the home of lawyer Nguyen Van Dai are completely unacceptable and are a violation of his right to protection from arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy and family, as stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam has acceded and is encouraged to adhere," it said.
The continued harassment of Nguyen as a defender of human rights and religious freedom is another example of the government's "attempt to restrict the activities of those who seek to defend the right to freedom of religion or belief in Vietnam," it added.
