By TINI TRAN
The Associated Press
 July 11, 2003

HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM – Vietnam's most celebrated Buddhist monk has spent a lifetime in and out of jail and house arrest for promoting religious freedom and democracy. Freed again two weeks ago, Thich Quang Do remains as feisty and outspoken as ever.

"People are very afraid of the government. ... Only I dare to say what I want to say. That is why they are afraid of me," the 74-year-old Nobel Peace Prize nominee said at the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery, where he was confined for two years, during his first meeting with a foreign journalist since his June 27 release.

Shaven-headed, with a disarming gap-toothed smile, Do cuts an elfin figure in his brown robes. Yet as deputy head of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, his words carry weight.

Do credits international pressure, particularly from U.S. and European legislators, with helping shorten his detention but believes it is a token gesture because the communist Vietnamese government wants to join the World Trade Organization.

"This is only temporary. In reality, they haven't opened up at all," he said.

Vietnam maintains that its citizens enjoy freedom of speech and religion and only punishes lawbreakers. But its definition of crime raises questions.

In 1995, when Do was sentenced to a five-year prison term, the charges included sending two faxes to overseas Buddhists accusing the government of obstructing a church flood-relief mission.

During his latest confinement, Do was kept behind the red wrought-iron gates of the pagoda. His phone line was cut, he was denied visitors and letters, and security police were on duty round the clock.

Even now, "on paper, I am free, but they are always watching," Do said, bursting into peals of laughter.

After greeting guests in a small room upstairs, he spoke at length about freedom, human rights and democracy.

"In my opinion, these are more important than economic development," he said. "If we don't have it, we cannot make any progress in the real sense."

Do expressed particular concern over the heavy prison sentences meted out to several "cyberdissidents" and urged foreign governments to campaign privately and publicly on their behalf.

Do's defiance of repressive governments predates the 1975 communist takeover of South Vietnam and the former Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. He was first jailed under Catholic leader Ngo Dinh Diem.

In recent years, Vietnam has become more tolerant of public worship, but for Do, religious worship does not equal religious freedom.

"I must speak the truth and do what I believe is right. If it means being arrested again, well, I will accept it," he said with another defiant laugh.