Vietnamese religious freedom activist Nay Y Blang was arrested in May 2023 and imprisoned for his religious belief and activity. The authorities accused him of “abusing democratic freedoms” for his affiliation with the Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ and for holding prayer meetings in his home. In January 2024 he was convicted and sentenced to four and a half years in prison, with an expected release date of 18 November 2027.
Nay Y Blang (49) was arrested and jailed on 18 May 2023 for “abusing democratic freedoms” for his affiliation with the Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ (CHECC) and for allegedly using prayer meetings in his home to “gather forces, divide the national unity bloc, incite secession, self-rule, and establish a separate state for ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands”.
He was also accused of “providing false information about freedom of religious belief, slander, distorting religious policies, and violating the interests of the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
Nay Y Blang is a Montagnard from Vietnam’s Central Highlands and is a member of the Ede ethnic group, one of around thirty Montagnard tribal groups. He lives in the Ea Lam commune of Song Hinh district in the southeastern coastal province of Phu Yen, and belongs to the unregistered Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ, which is not recognised by the Vietnamese government. Many of its members have suffered ongoing harassment in recent years.
Montagnard Christians are persecuted for their faith (Christianity is seen as a western religion) and for their ethnicity (fear of tribal separatism), and local officials often use tactics such as discrimination, detention, beatings and forced renunciations of faith to try to stop Christianity spreading.
Nay Y Blang hosted prayer meetings at his home for several years and also met online with leaders of the CHECC, and when he was arrested in May 2023 his supporters said he was being punished for his association with the church.
The People’s Court of Phu Yen province tried Nay Y Blang on 26 January 2024 and convicted him of “abusing democratic freedoms and belief freedoms to entice and incite others to infringe upon the interests of the State, legitimate rights and interests of agencies, organisations, and individuals”. He was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.
At the trial, according to pro-government Vietnamese news outlet Tuoi Tre Online and news agency Vietnam Plus, Nay Y Blang admitted the crime and asked for leniency. Tuoi Tre reported that he asked the jury to consider “mitigating the punishment so that he could soon return to his family, and reintegrate into the community”. His family and defence lawyer were not present at the trial.
CHECC’s founder Pastor A Ga, who now lives in North Carolina, said the charges against him were all fabricated and that the trial was a farce. He told Radio Free Asia, “The church is not reactionary, not against the state, not intending to establish a separate state. We just want to express our religious beliefs, our own religion, to worship God and follow the religion that suits us, while still following the laws of the Vietnamese government.”
Vietnam Plus stated, “Phu Yen police defined that since late 2019, Nay Y Blang had participated in the Central Highlands Protestant Church of the Christ… Although local authorities repeatedly explained that joining a religious or belief organisation must strictly comply with the Law on Belief and Religion, Nay Y Blang ignored it. The man considered himself a missionary and organised illegal religious activities, incited and lured many others to participate in the organisation, which runs against the law.”
Previous convictions and harassment
In April 2005 Nay Y Blang was sentenced to five years and six months in prison for “undermining the unity policy”.
In 2010 he was released but was sent to an “educational facility” for two years for “abusing the rights to democratic freedom and freedom of belief to entice and incite others to violate the law, interests of the State, legitimate rights and interests of organisations and individuals”.
Radio Free Asia reports that In August 2022 Nay Y Blang met with a diplomat from the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, after which local authorities harassed him and his family, asking for information about the meeting. A month later he was invited to meet a religious delegation from the US State Department but could not attend because security agents detained him at a bus station.
In September 2022 Nay Y Blang was fined four million Vietnamese Dong (approximately €152) for “abusing democratic freedoms and belief freedoms”.
TIMELINE
April 2005 Nay Y Blang was sentenced to five years and six months in prison for “undermining the unity policy”.
2010 Nay Y Blang was released from prison but was sent to an “educational facility” for two years.
August 2022 Local authorities harassed Nay Y Blang and his family after he met with a diplomat from the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City. A month later he was prevented from meeting a religious delegation from the US State Department because security agents detained him at a bus station.
September 2022 Nay Y Blang was fined four million Vietnamese Dong (approximately €152) for “abusing democratic freedoms and belief freedoms”.
18 May 2023 Nay Y Blang was arrested and jailed for “abusing democratic freedoms”.
26 January 2024 The People’s Court of Phu Yen province convicted Nay Y Blang and sentenced him to four years and six months in prison.
Read more about the persecution of Christians in Vietnam
(88 Project, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Radio Free Asia, Tuoi Tre Online, UCA News, Vietnam Plus)
Photo: Cong An Nhan Dan, Radio Free Asia