HANOI - TWO Vietnamese Catholics have filed legal suits against two state media outlets in the communist country over their coverage of a recent trial stemming from a tense land dispute with the church.

In their rare legal complaints, the two women demanded corrections, apologies and damages from a state newspaper and a television station for reporting that they had pleaded guilty in court, which they deny.

The women were among eight Hanoi parishioners tried last month after taking part in mass prayer vigils for the return of a church property in the capital that was taken over by the one-party state half a century ago.

The Hanoi Moi (New Hanoi) daily and VTV1 television - which like all Vietnamese media fall under party and state control - at the time reported that all eight of the Catholics had admitted their guilt in court.

But Nguyen Thi Viet, 54, and Ngo Thi Dung, 60, in their complaints denied having admitted to any wrongdoing during the vigils at the disputed Thai Ha parish property which was later turned into a public park.

'At the trial, the two women rejected the accusations by the state,' the lawyer for the two women, Le Tran Luat, told AFP. 'They did not admit to having committed crimes and breaking the law.'

'However, the Hanoi Moi newspaper and VTV1 ran news that all the defendants had bent their heads and admitted the crimes. That was wrong.'

The women each asked for just under US$50 (S$74.30) in damages from each media outlet for publishing the 'deliberately false and distorted' reports which they said had harmed their reputations, VietCatholic.net reported.

The eight were convicted of 'disorderly conduct' and 'damaging state property' for tearing down a wall around the disputed property last August. All were found guilty but released with non-custodial sentences or warnings.

The defendants in late December launched an appeal. -- AFP