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South China Morning Post Tuesday, March 20, 2001 VIETNAM AGENCIES in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Prev. Story An elderly Vietnamese Buddhist fatally set herself ablaze yesterday to protest against ongoing religious persecution and the detention of the sect's outlawed leader, sources said. The exiled Overseas Hoa Hao Buddhist Association said Nguyen Thi Thu, 75, was among "several hundred" Hoa Hao faithful who had gathered in a village in the Mekong Delta to demonstrate for greater religious freedom. "As the protest continued, Mrs Thu suddenly doused herself with gasoline and self-immolated," according to a statement by the association, which is based in the US state of Maryland. The overseas association said police removed the body after using batons to beat off Buddhist's who tried to stop them. It said Thu's last words were "Religious freedom for Vietnam" and "Religious freedom for the Hoa Hao Buddhists". An official at the people's committee of Vinh Long province's Tan Hoi commune, where the incident occurred, said: "An elderly woman died this morning and many people gathered around her body." Police in the commune said they could not comment. "We will inform you later," one officer said. Such public protests are rare in Vietnam, and self-immolations nearly unheard of since several Buddhist monks killed themselves during the Vietnam War to protest against religious repression by President Ngo Dinh Diem of what was then South Vietnam. The Hoa Hao are now officially recognised by Hanoi, but a vocal outlawed group calling itself the Hoa Hao Buddhist Church of Vietnam has been a thorn in the side of the Government for years. The elderly chairman of the sect said he was detained and beaten for 30 hours at the weekend but had been allowed to return home, a reliable source said. His house was being guarded by about 20 police officers. The source, who did not want to be identified, said Hoa Hao chairman Le Quang Liem, 82, had told him by telephone he had been held in police custody for more than 24 hours from early Saturday and hit in the face and stomach. Mr Liem also said his daughter had been beaten after she went to the police station where he was held in Ho Chi Minh City to demand his release. The status of more than a dozen other Hoa Hao supporters reportedly detained on Saturday, was also unclear. They are believed to have included deputy chairman Nguyen Van Dien. Police have refused to comment and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said she had no information. The incidents came on the 54th anniversary yesterday of the disappearance of Hoa Hao prophet Huynh Phu So. He was abducted by communist independence forces in 1947.