Canada has joined a global chorus of condemnation against the continued jailing of a Vietnamese priest, who has been sentenced to eight years in prison and five years of house arrest for peacefully practicing his faith and expressing his opinions.
Father Nguyen Van Ly, who was serving an eight-year prison sentence for pursuing democratic activities, received a temporary suspension of his sentence in March 2010 to seek medical treatment.
Last month, Father Ly, 65, was taken away from his home in Hue in Vietnam, after 16 months of temporary medical parole from an eight-year jail sentence.
“We are disappointed that Father Nguyen Van Ly has been returned to prison, and we remain very concerned about his health,” said John Baird, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister
“Canada urges the Government of Vietnam to permanently release Father Ly and the many others imprisoned for peacefully expressing their opinion…Our government will continue to pursue Canada’s principled approach to foreign policy to advance freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
Meanwhile, according to one of the nearly 3,000 WikiLeaks cables released August 25 in Hanoi, the Canadian Ambassador there is said to have offered  Father Ly a home in Canada if he is released permanently.
The state-run Vietnam News Agency said Fr. Ly was sent back to prison for “compiling, storing and distributing documents ... opposing the party and the state” and “inciting people to ... stage demonstrations.”
He must now serve five more years in prison followed by five years of probationary house arrest.
“Throwing Father Ly back in prison only compounds the cruelty and injustice of his original sentence,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of the US-based Human Rights Watch.
“Father Ly was convicted solely for expressing peaceful political beliefs and should never have been imprisoned in the first place.”
The US State Department also said that no one should be imprisoned for exercising the right to free speech.
The Catholic News Agency adds that the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has condemned the re-arrest.
“Father Ly should be immediately and unconditionally released,” said commission chair Leonard Leo.
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer is leading  a bipartisan group of Senators in calling on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to take further steps to urge the Vietnamese government to immediately release Father Ly from prison.
“Father Ly’s health has been in serious decline since he suffered multiple strokes in prison, and his continued incarceration may further threaten his life,” she said in a statement.
Father Ly, is among the founding members of “Bloc 8406”, a movement that demands the end of the single party in Vietnam.
His was rearrested comes after he had sent written denouncements of serious human rights violations of the Communist Party and the Vietnamese government.
Meanwhile eight Catholics from central Vietnam were arrested after protesting for land rights and circulating a petition to free prominent legal rights activist Cu Huy Ha Vu, their lawyer and families said.
Those arrested had ‘taken part in activities such as asking authorities to return land in Thai Ha province, or against a government-run Bauxite mining project,’ lawyer Le Quoc Quan said.
They were arrested between July 30 and August 8 in Vinh province, banned political group Viet Tan said.
Ho Duc Luc, younger brother of Ho Duc Hoa who was arrested along with two other Catholics at Saigon airport as he returned from holiday, said police searched their house ‘but they did not say anything about the arrest of my brother.’
Four others were arrested while they were in their homes in Vinh City and blogger Paulus Le Son was detained as he was walking down a street in Hanoi, according to his girlfriend.
The arrests represent a new wave of persecution by the newly appointed government, Viet Tan said.
This month , thousands of Catholics in Vinh City took to the streets protesting against a decision by local authorities to seize land in Cau Ram parish to build a park dedicated to soldiers who died during the war with the United States.