Police brutally repressed the prayer of land dispute petitioners at Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral

Danlambao - Around 9 am today, July 31, 2013, many land dispute petitioners from Southwest and Southeast provinces came to the famous Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral to pray for their property claims. Their lands and or real estate properties were robbed by local authorities. Although they have participated in dozens of lawsuits, the local authorities have never resolved the problems but deliberately ignored them.

When praying at the statue of Our Lady they were dragged to buses by police, security agents, building inspectors and youth volunteers to be taken away. Those who did not abide by police’s orders by sitting down were brutally beaten, and their mobile phone confiscated. Several people are being treated in hospital emergency rooms. Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, a petitioner from Ba Ria, Vung Tau, had been brutally beaten most.

Below are known mobile phone numbers of the victims.