The quest for justice of Catholics in Hanoi is now facing a tough challenge as it is interpreted as the continuation of disturbance of public order by the government, rather than a victims' demand for the correction of falsified court hearing report.

Just one day after New Hanoi Newspaper publicly refused to make corrections on its falsified report of what really happened at the trial of 8 Thai Ha parishioners on Dec 8, 2008, the next day, on Feb 28, 2009, the online edition of this very newspaper had published an article charging the Thai Ha plaintiffs for refusing to “awaken to reality" in a very provocative, accusatory tone. About a week later, on March 5, the second media outlet (Vietnam Television) also brushed aside the Thai Ha parishioners' demand to broadcast the corrected version of the trial report the plaintiffs claimed VTV was responsible for.

General speaking, each time state media launch a hate campaign against Catholics in Hanoi, it usually means a suggestion for more severe crackdowns against them.

What the state media's intention is now unraveling to the public view as they are trying to portrait the Catholics' lawsuit as groundless, and the plaintiffs are none other than stubborn defendants who did not only refuse to honor the stayed sentence imposed upon them by the Hanoi people's court, but also continue to cause public disturbances by insisting on the media to make corrections on what they described as "distortion of the truth" in broad daylight.

The fact of the matter is all 8 Thai Ha defendants in the criminal court held on Dec 8, 2008 never pleaded guilty to the charges against them by the government. The state run media reported at their liberty that they "all bowed their heads to plead guilty and accepted responsibilities for their actions." To this outrageous lies every eyewitness were so offended that a law suit had been brought against the two said media outlets.

Even more alarming is the fact that the Catholics' legal counsel Mr. Le Tran Luat is now being subject of governmental intimidation and persecution for providing assistance in the law suits against the state media.

Last Tuesday, lawyer Le Tran Luat was arrested at Tan Son Nhat airport on last Tuesday morning when he was boarding a flight from Saigon to Hanoi in order to prepare for the law suits against the state media.

A week before, his office was ransacked. His computers and other personal equipments were confiscated. His aides were taken into custody by plainclothes policemen, and suffered hours of interrogation.

Thai Ha parishioners and the Hanoi Redemptorists are still being shocked at what is happening to their fellow parishioners and their legal representatives. On March 7, a candlelight vigil has been held at Hanoi Redemptorist monastery to pray for justice and for the safety of their lawyers.

Thai Ha Catholics and their lawyer Le Tran Luat are now asking for the public's prayers and interventions as their lives and their rights to demand justice are now in jeopardy due to the incapability to uphold the law of the Vietnam government and law makers.