Pastor Quang released from Vietnam prison

Nguyen Hong Quang is greeted after his release from prison.

Nguyen Hong Quang, the Mennonite pastor imprisoned in Vietnam since his arrest on June 8, 2004, was released on August 30.

Quang called his wife, Le Thi Phu Dung, to tell her of his release at 5:30 p.m. By 7:00 p.m., he was reunited with his family and with the church in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City.

Evangelist Pham Ngoc Thach is now the only one of the six Mennonite church leaders arrested since March 2004 still being held in prison.

At a November 2004 trial by the People’s Court on charges relating to resisting officers of law, the six were given sentences ranging from a few months to three years. Ms. Le Thi Hong Lien, a children’s teacher and the only woman in the group, was released in April after serving ten months of her one-year sentence. Three others had been released earlier.

During the past 14 months, Quang has been moved about among five different prisons. His health was seriously affected by harsh conditions, hard labour and beatings by criminals in the prisons. His Bible was confiscated, he was forbidden to pray for other prisoners and disciplined for preaching to them.

Mennonites in Vietnam believe that Quang’s early release is the result of the great concern expressed by many governments, human rights agencies, international press coverage and evangelical believers both within and beyond Mennonite circles.

The Mennonite Church calls on the Vietnamese government to release Pham Ngoc Thach also and to respect the church’s freedom to exercise their religious faith.

The family of pastor Quang expresses their deep appreciation to all who supported them in prayer and to those who supported pastor Quang and the brothers and sisters in the Vietnam Mennonite Church who have persevered by their faith.

—Mennonite World Conference release from a Vietnam Ministries report