Vietnamese Churches Demand Investigation of Christian’s Death

Police and other officials intrude into home of Y Krot Bya during worship in Buon Don District, Dak Lak Province, Vietnam on Nov. 15, 2023. (Morning Star News)

 Posted at Morning Star News:

Published April 22, 2024

Petition demands full, fair inquiry.

(Morning Star News) – Relatives of Y Bum Bya, a member of the Evangelical Church of Christ of the Western Highlands (ECCWH), on March 8 found his battered body hanging from a tree with a rope around his neck.

Police, saying they were coming to return a cell phone that they had confiscated from him, had ordered him to be at home that morning to meet him. At the appointed time, however, officers sent word that he should meet them at another location about half a kilometer away.

He set out for the place but never returned. Relatives searching for him found his lifeless body hours later in a nearby stand of trees.

Police had first arrested and badly beaten Y Bum Bya in August 2023, and then publicly humiliated him before forcibly assembled fellow villagers. Officers charged him with trying to “destroy the great national unity,” under Article 116 of the criminal code. Merely expressing a controversial idea in Vietnam can trigger this charge.

In April 2023, a pastor of his congregation, Y Krec Bya, was also arrested and held a year for investigation before his trial on March 28. He also was accused of “destroying the great national unity.” On the flimsiest evidence he was sentenced to an outrageous 13 years in prison to be followed by five years of house arrest.

In a bold and unusual move, the ECCWH recruited 31 congregations to sign a petition demanding a full and transparent government investigation of the murder of Y Bum Bya, given its proximity to the site of the police summons. They also demand a review of the preposterous sentence for Pastor Y Krec Bya.

Read more here.