Nineteen Christians distributing leaflets during the Southeast Asian Games in Ho Chi Minh City were arrested by Vietnamese police. A Protestant minister, Pham Ngoc Thach, remains in police custody and another minister, Nguyen Hong Quang, has staged a hunger strike in the central district of the city, the former Saigon, reported Radio Free Asia, or RFA.
A source told RFA all but four of the detainees are known to be held at local police facilities, the source said. The whereabouts of ministers Tran Mai and Le Quang Son and two assistants is unknown.
"We love this country, and we respect the law, but we are being persecuted for our beliefs," Nguyen Hong Quang said in a telephone interview, according to RFA.
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