Police early Dec. 19 traveled to Boukham village in Laos’ Savannakhet province to meet with officials about the arrest Dec. 16 of eight Christian leaders who had gathered some 200 church members for a Christmas celebration, an advocacy group reported.
Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) reported that the leaders had secured permission for the event from Boukham’s village chief. Village security forces entered the building, isolated the eight leaders and marched them to the Boukham government headquarters, where they were detained without charge. Four of the detainees were placed in handcuffs and wooden stocks, while the other four were left unrestrained.
“While they were held without formal charges, it is quite clear that they were arrested for gathering people for worship,” an HRWLRF spokesman said.
On Dec. 18, Lao Evangelical Church representatives managed to negotiate the release of one of the detainees held in stocks, who goes by the single name of Kingnamosorn, after paying a fine of $123 to the village chief. By comparison, the average monthly wage for an unskilled laborer in the province is close to $40. The content of the discussion between village leaders and the subdistrict police remains unknown, but when police left the village, the chief ordered the other four unrestrained detainees to be placed in stocks as well, HRWLRF reported. (CDN)
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