Dissident Vietnamese monk gives support, cash to land protesters

Meanwhile, state-run newspapers on Wednesday accused "hostile forces" of inciting the small-but-persistant protest, now in its fourth week, to undermine the Communist Party's hold on sole political power in Vietnam.

Do, the deputy leader of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), donated 300 million Vietnamese dong (about 20,000 dollars) for food and other support for the demonstrators Tuesday, according to the Paris-based International Buddhist Information Bureau.

"I have come here today to stand beside you in your hardships and express the UBCV's deep concern for the injustice you suffer," Do told the crowd, according to a press release. "Like you, the UBCV is a victim of injustice." 

He told the demonstrators, who are demanding resolution of various disputes over lands seized by local authorities, that the only solution was to end the Communist Party's monopoly on power.

"There can be no justice under the one-party state," Do was quoted as saying. "We must work together until we succeed in winning democracy, freedom and human rights for all the Vietnamese people." 

Do's supporters said his appearance was his first public speech in 26 years and noted that he had to elude police surveillance in order to leave his pagoda and visit the demonstration outside the National Assembly offices in Ho Chi Minh City.

Do has been a thorn in the side of the Communist Party since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, when the victorious communists folded all Buddhist sects into one state-run church and seized UBCV lands. The UBCV was a powerful political movement during the war.

The 78-year-old monk has been jailed several times and has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize numerous times. The UBCV contends he is effectively under house arrest, although Vietnam's government denies it.

Around 500 protesters from southern provinces have been camped outside the National Assembly southern offices - the parliament itself is in Hanoi -  since June 26, demanding compensation for lands they say were unfairly seized by authorities.

The protests have been publicly supported by dissident movements inside Vietnam, including the UBCV and Bloc 8406, an umbrella group for political dissidents that has seen nearly a dozen of its members jailed this year.

Overseas Vietnamese groups have also publicized the demonstrations as proof of discontent in the communist-run state.

On Wednesday, the state-run newspaper Liberation Saigon accused overseas anti-communist groups of inciting the demonstrations to achieve their own political goals.

"Some evil figures, supported by external hostile forces, add fuel to the fire and incite people to file complaints regardless of the law," the article published Wednesday said.

Land protests have become more common in Vietnam, with state media saying property disputes account for 85 per cent of complaints against the government.

Unauthorized protests are illegal in Vietnam. So far, authorities have not dispersed the longest-running demonstration in recent memory, but some protestors have said they have been harassed by police.

Other state-run media acknowledged that land protestors often have legitimate complaints and urged authorities to resolve the disputes.

//Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA)