The 60-year-old Ly was sentenced by Thua Thien Hue Provincial People’s Court in the central
city of Hue which claimed he had distributed materials "intended to undermine the government" and has communicated with "anti-Communist groups" overseas.
Analysts say Ly, who spent a total of 14 years in prison since 1983 on charges of acting gainst the Communist state, upset officials by resuming his political activities after he was freed from jail in a 2005 amnesty, and placed under house arrest.
He is one of the editors of the underground publication ‘Tu do Ngon luan’, or ‘Free Speech,’ which fights for more democracy in Vietnam. The priest is also member of the outlawed "Bloc 8406" pro-democracy coalition, named after its April 8 launch last year, and one of the founders of the banned Vietnam Progression Party.
The Bloc 8406 group last April launched an on-line petition signed by 118 democracy activists calling for peaceful political change and respect for human rights in Vietnam.
UMBRELLA GROUP
Authorities claim Ly was "plotting" to merge with overseas democracy activists to form a new political umbrella group called "Lac Hong." Advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RWB) said the trial showed that there is no freedom of expression in Vietnam.
"Vietnam’s constitution protects free expression, but the Communist Party does not tolerate criticism," RWB said in a statement obtained by BosNewsLife.
The case, in which four other co-defendants dissidents are in the dock with Ly, came after dissidents told BosNewsLife there was an "intensified crackdown" by the Hanoi authorities on pro-democracy activists and independent churches.
Two men, Nguyen Phong and Nguyen Binh Thanh, and two women, Hoang Thi Anh Dao and Le Thi Le Hang, were also investigated by the police of Thua Thien Hue province at same time as Ly. At the start of the trial, eyewitnesses saw how a gaunt and handcuffed Ly defiantly yelled "down with the Communist Party" twice before a policeman covered his mouth and moved him to a separate room.
"UNUSUAL STEP"
In what observers described as "an unusual step", over a dozen diplomats and foreign journalists were allowed to attend Friday’s proceedings for the first and last five minutes. They could watch the remainder on closed-circuit television.
Human rights group Amnesty International (AI) said it condemned the sentence as an attempt to silence dissident voices. "The politically-motivated charges against Father Ly and his associates are a blatant attempt to silence them and to scare off other critics of the government,” said AI’s Deputy Asia Pacific Director Tim Parritt in a statement to BosNewsLife.
"The politically-motivated charges against Father Ly and his associates are a blatant attempt to silence them and to scare off other critics of the government," he added. "This sentence means Father Ly will be a prisoner of conscience for the fourth time in two decades. It is indicative of a broader crackdown on dissent by the Vietnamese authorities that has been intensifying since the country held the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting last November."
He said that "Father Ly and his associates are the first people who have been brought to trial during the [latest] crackdown," on dissidents. "We fear others will follow." (With reports from Vietnam and BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos).
