Viet government denies involvement in attack on Hanoi monastery
November 18, 2008
A spokesman for the Vietnamese foreign ministry told reporters that "no government forces attacked the Thai Ha parish area" last Saturday night, despite the wide circulation of photos showing police officers on the scene as a mob ransacked the chapel of a Redemptorist monastery there. The government's disclaimer did not reassure Catholics in Hanoi; they reported that the police had protected the vandals from interference by parishioners on Saturday night, and now higher-ranking government officials were protecting their subordinates from accusations of involvement in anti-Catholic violence. By claiming no involvement, said a Redemptorist spokesman, the government "behaves as if it is not liable for protecting Catholics."
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