Vigils held for lawyer Le Tran Luat

Hanoi Redemptorists led a vigil attended by thousands on Saturday evening March 7 for lawyer Le Tran Luat of Ho Chi Minh Cithy. He has been representing the eight defendants of the Thai Ha parish in Hanoi, who were arrested and convicted for their protest of the government confiscation of church property. Similar vigils organized by Redemptorists were held in Ho Chi Minh city and other provinces.

As noted in the March 3 entry below, Luat has come under government pressure for representing these Catholic dissidents. The harassment includes the lawyers association threatening to suspend his license, denunciation in the official media; and police ransaking his office and interrogating him and his assistant (on separate occassions) for several hours.

Source: VietCatholic News March 8.