Nay Y’Blang was made to renounce his church in front of a camera

Nay Y’Blang has already served four years for refusing to leave his church. In January 2025 the police called him in again, and this time they filmed him promising to give it up.

Where things stand

Nay Y’Blang is a Christian and a member of the Dega community church in the Central Highlands. On 17 January 2025 he was summoned to the district police station in Song Hinh, in Phu Yen province, over what the summons described as religious matters.

At the station he was told to promise, in front of a television camera, that he would leave his own church and attend the State-sanctioned one instead. He gave the promise that was asked of him and was allowed to go home the same day.

How this case has run

1. Before 2025

   Sentenced to four years in prison by the Phu Yen provincial police for refusing to join the State-sanctioned church, Hội thánh Tin lành Việt Nam miền Nam.

2. 17 January 2025Summoned

   Called to the Song Hinh district police station over religious matters.

3. 17 January 2025Filmed renunciation

   Required to promise on camera to leave his church. Released the same day.

What we are reporting, and what we are not

This account is what Nay Y’Blang and his community reported to us. The four-year sentence and the January summons are matters of record. What was said inside the station is his account of it; no transcript has been released, and we have not seen the recording that was made of him.

Why it matters

A prison sentence ends. A filmed renunciation is meant to last, and to be shown to others. Dega churches in the Central Highlands are pressed to dissolve into the State-sanctioned church, and members who refuse are summoned, sentenced, and called back again after release. Nay Y’Blang has now been through all three.