Vietnam granted early release from prison to a Catholic priest who is one of its most prominent dissidents, a move widely seen as a goodwill gesture before US President Barack Obama arrives on an official visit late tonight.
The Catholic Archdiocese of the central city of Hue reported on its Web site that it welcomed the return on Friday of 70-year-old Father Nguyen Van Ly from prison. Photographs on its Web site showed a frail Ly being helped off a minibus, kneeling to pay his respects to his senior colleagues, then being led to a room prepared for him at the diocese. He has suffered several health crises while imprisoned.
Ly has served several long terms in prison or under house arrest for promoting political and religious freedoms in the communist nation. He has been serving an eight-year prison term since March 2007 after being convicted of spreading propaganda against the state. He was first jailed in 1977, two years after the communist takeover of Vietnam.
Vietnam’s persecution of dissidents has been a roadblock to warmer relations with the US, from which it is seeking the lifting of an arms embargo.
Washington and Hanoi share a strategic interest in challenging Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, some of which are in areas long claimed by Vietnam.
Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei also have rival claims.
The government’s relations have always been strained with the Catholic Church, associated with French colonial rule and the former anti-communist South Vietnam, as well as an influential power base independent of the Vietnamese Communist Party’s control.
The US Department of State said it welcomed the amnesty for Ly.
“We consistently have called for the release of Father Ly and all other prisoners of conscience in Vietnam,” Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs spokeswoman Gabrielle Price said. “We remain deeply concerned for all prisoners of conscience in Vietnam. We call on the government to release unconditionally all prisoners of conscience and allow all Vietnamese to express their political views peacefully without fear of retribution.”
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