BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Vietnam dissident priest on trial

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Vietnam dissident priest on trial


Priest against Communism
Vietnam dissident priest on trial
By Chris Xia
BBC News



Father Ly was placed under house arrest in late February
A Catholic priest is to go on trial in Vietnam accused of disseminating information to undermine the state and forming an illegal political party.
Father Nguyen Van Ly is a prominent pro-democracy activist who has been under house arrest since last month.

Father Ly, 59, has already spent 14 of the past 24 years in prison for his opposition to Communist Party rule.

He was last jailed in 2001 after he urged the US to link its trade policy with Vietnam's human rights record.

He was released in 2005 and soon resumed his dissident work.

Father Ly is a founding member of Bloc 8406, a pro-democracy movement launched last April. He is also a member of the Progression Party.

Leading members of both groups have been detained in recent months, in what appears to have been a concerted drive against opponents of the communist government.

An envoy from the Vatican raised the case of Father Ly with the authorities during a visit to Vietnam earlier this month.

But the envoy would not say what Vietnam's response was.

State media has accused Father Ly and other pro-democracy activists of trying to undermine the Communist Party by forming illegal parties to field candidates in National Assembly elections in May.

Only the Communist Party is allowed to stand, although a small number of seats are reserved for non-party members.