The news on the temporary release of the most well known dissident priest from prison had caught many by surprise but a relief for those who have been advocating for his freedom especially his family and fellow compatriots.
In an unexpected move made by the Vietnamese government on Mar 15, 2010, Fr. Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly whose raw, courageous criticism of the government on human and religious rights had landed he in the communist prison 15 times since 1977 has been released to the custody of Hue Archdiocese and his family for medical treatment for 12 months.
Though the release of Fr. Ly had been announced by none of more than 600 state media outlets, even calls to the Foreign Ministry's press office had gone unanswered, but it was instantly spread globally through the Internet and the cleric is now facing an avalanche of attention from fellow Christians, compatriots, human rights activists and well wishers around the world who have come to know him and his ordeal from the infamous Kangaroo trial which had been dubbed "the mouth muzzling trial" in 2007.
He had been welcome home Monday afternoon by an ecstatic group of bishop Francis-Xavier Le Van Hong and several fellow priests from the Archbishopric at the Diocesan Retirement Home of Hue on Phan Dinh Phung St. He was reportedly had to be on a walker and assisted with moving around as a result of a stroke he suffered in 2009 without proper medical care in prison.
The newly parolee is now resting comfortably at the said Diocesan Retirement Home and managing to give a few interviews to foreign media which are receiving so many requests from the public to inquire on the state of his health and his mind. He has repeatedly denied that he had motioned for his own release but assumed it was supposed to be granted at the urgent request from his family and the Archdiocese since last year, however only after the 2009 report of the USCIRF which called for Vietnam to be back on the CPC list, and the US State Department's report, issued the day before, also strongly denounced the increase of Vietnam's crackdown on democracy activists.
In his recent interviews with overseas media, the good natured cleric indicates no ill will against his jailers; however he insists that the communist court conviction and its sentence have no merit as he's done nothing criminally as the state accused him of doing. And he thanked everyone who has believed in him, faithfully praying for, and jealously fighting for his freedom.
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| Bishop Francis-Xavier Le Van Hong greeted Fr. Ly |
In an unexpected move made by the Vietnamese government on Mar 15, 2010, Fr. Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly whose raw, courageous criticism of the government on human and religious rights had landed he in the communist prison 15 times since 1977 has been released to the custody of Hue Archdiocese and his family for medical treatment for 12 months.
Though the release of Fr. Ly had been announced by none of more than 600 state media outlets, even calls to the Foreign Ministry's press office had gone unanswered, but it was instantly spread globally through the Internet and the cleric is now facing an avalanche of attention from fellow Christians, compatriots, human rights activists and well wishers around the world who have come to know him and his ordeal from the infamous Kangaroo trial which had been dubbed "the mouth muzzling trial" in 2007.
He had been welcome home Monday afternoon by an ecstatic group of bishop Francis-Xavier Le Van Hong and several fellow priests from the Archbishopric at the Diocesan Retirement Home of Hue on Phan Dinh Phung St. He was reportedly had to be on a walker and assisted with moving around as a result of a stroke he suffered in 2009 without proper medical care in prison.
The newly parolee is now resting comfortably at the said Diocesan Retirement Home and managing to give a few interviews to foreign media which are receiving so many requests from the public to inquire on the state of his health and his mind. He has repeatedly denied that he had motioned for his own release but assumed it was supposed to be granted at the urgent request from his family and the Archdiocese since last year, however only after the 2009 report of the USCIRF which called for Vietnam to be back on the CPC list, and the US State Department's report, issued the day before, also strongly denounced the increase of Vietnam's crackdown on democracy activists.
In his recent interviews with overseas media, the good natured cleric indicates no ill will against his jailers; however he insists that the communist court conviction and its sentence have no merit as he's done nothing criminally as the state accused him of doing. And he thanked everyone who has believed in him, faithfully praying for, and jealously fighting for his freedom.