For immediate release, July 29, 2017
Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, a Vietnamese prisoner of conscience, arrived in Orange County, California last night with his wife and five children following a deal that has seen him released early from an 11-year prison sentence in exchange for going into exile in the United States.
“We welcome the early release of Pastor Chinh but deplore the fact that he and his loved ones must go into exile,” said Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang, CEO & President of Boat People SOS (BPSOS). “We are also concerned because close to a hundred other religious prisoners equally deserve freedom.”
Pastor Chinh was unjustly imprisoned in 2011 on the vague charges of “undermining national solidarity”. While he was behind bars, authorities also targeted his wife, monitoring her closely and harassing her in an effort to prevent her from advocating for her husband’s release. In 2016, after Mrs. Hong had met with a visiting US diplomat to discuss her husband’s case, she was subjected to a series of interrogation sessions at a local public security office in Gia Lai Province; on three occasions she was tortured by police. In protest, she went on hunger strike twice, for periods of nine and four days respectively.
Pastor Chinh, wife Tran Thi Hong and their five children welcomed by well-wishers at LAX, July 28, 2017 (photo by BPSOS)
