More than 1,000 Vietnamese Catholics turned up at the People's Committee offices in a Hanoi district to protest against the trial, a rare expression of dissent against the southeast Asian country's ruling Communist Party.

In a peaceful demonstration, the Catholics sang hymns and held up banners demanding justice for the eight, whose court appearance is the latest twist in a dispute that has been rumbling on for months.

The piece of land in question is owned by a garment company but the protesters argue it is church land.

In August, state television showed pictures of people using hoes and hammers to break what it said was a section of the brick wall surrounding the plot, leading to police claims of "causing public disorder" and "intentional destruction of property."

"They're trying these eight people to send a message to the rest," one of the protesters told Reuters, asking not to be named for fear of recrimination.

Religion remains under state supervision in the mostly Buddhist country, although Vietnam has the second largest Catholic community in Southeast Asia after the Philippines, with about 6 million among the 86.5 million population.

The Hanoi government is working toward establishing formal diplomatic relations with the Vatican, and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited the Pope there a year ago.

By John Ruwitch - Reuters - December 8, 2008

Catholic protesters face court in Vietnam

HANOI (AFP) — Eight Vietnamese Catholics went on trial Monday charged with disturbing public order and destroying property in this communist country during rallies over a land dispute this year.

The trial is the first stemming from a year-old series of mass prayer vigils and peaceful rallies in the capital Hanoi in which Catholics have demanded the return of some church lands seized by the state half a century ago.

Hundreds of Catholic faithful, including robed priests holding religious icons, rallied outside the local government building where the trial was being held, guarded by hundreds of uniformed and plainclothes police.

"We came here to ask for justice," said one supporter in the fast-growing crowd, 67-year-old Nguyen Thi Hoa. "The Catholic detainees are all innocent."

Another supporter, holding up a picture of the Virgin Mary, said "the charges are groundless because these people only protected the land of the church. They did not commit any violence against the authorities."

Vietnam, a former French colony and a unified communist country since the war ended in 1975, has Southeast Asia's largest Catholic community after the Philippines -- at least six million out of a population of 86 million.

The eight defendants four men and four women are accused of causing public disorder and destroying property, charges which each carry up to seven years' jail, at the height of the protests in August.

To back their case, Vietnamese authorities have in the past released video footage showing Catholic protesters tearing down part of a brick wall around a disputed parcel of land adjacent to the Thai Ha Redemptorist parish.

The property and another disputed plot of land in the centre of the capital the site of the former Vatican embassy adjacent to St Joseph's Cathedral have since been turned into public parks.

Access to Monday's hearing was restricted by officials who cited the small size of the courtroom in the Dong Da local government building. The few foreign reporters allowed in had to hand their cellphones to police.

Vietnam's tightly controlled media has largely ignored the case.

The state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA) named two detained defendants as 46-year-old Nguyen Thi Nhi, a female resident of the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum, and 54-year-old woman Ngo Thi Dung.

Also on trial but earlier freed on bail were two more women Nguyen Thi Viet, 59, and Le Thi Hoi, 61 and four men Le Quang Kien, 63, Pham Chi Nang, 50, Ngyen Dac Hung, 31, and Thai Thanh Hai, 21 said VNA.

Catholics in hundreds of parishes across Vietnam, including southern Ho Chi Minh City, have organised prayers and vigils to support the defendants, said the online Catholic news service vietcatholic.net.

Agence France Presse - December 8, 2008

Vietnamese Catholics on trial in land dispute case

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Eight Vietnamese Catholics went on trial Monday on charges of disturbing public order and damaging property while holding prayer vigils to demand the return of confiscated church land.

The Catholics are accused of knocking down a brick wall surrounding property near the Thai Ha church in Hanoi's Dong Da district during several weeks of prayer vigils late last summer. They face up to seven years in prison.

Several hundred Catholics gathered outside the Dong Da district court Monday morning, displaying pictures of the Virgin Mary. Scores of riot police stood guard around the building, but no clashes were reported.

As testimony began Monday, defendant Nguyen Thi Nhi, 46, said church members held the vigils to "protect the prestige and property of the church."

Property laws are complex in Vietnam, where communist authorities seized buildings and acreage from wealthy landowners, churches and other groups since taking power in 1954. Such properties were used by the state or redistributed to veterans or others who helped bring the communists to power.

Hanoi authorities, who have since turned the property into a public park, say the Thai Ha church and its surrounding land belong to the city.

The church claims it has documents verifying its claim. The city claims a former parish priest signed papers turning the property over to Hanoi in 1962.

With more than 6 million followers, Catholicism is the second most popular religion after Buddhism in the nation of 86 million.

The Associated Press - December 8, 2008