Sources say Vatican likely to ask for Vietnamese priest's clemency

Published: 2007-04-05

ROME (CNS) -- Vatican officials said they will likely try to ask for clemency for a Vietnamese priest who was sentenced to eight years in prison for crimes against the state. The Vatican has encouraged Vietnamese officials to ensure that Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly was given a fair trial and the right to receive spiritual assistance from his bishop, Vatican sources told Catholic News Service. The sources said that although they cannot interfere in Vietnamese internal politics they will ask for the full details of Father Ly's case. In late February, Father Ly was placed under house arrest and charged with acts of incitement against the state after his home was raided. Father Ly also was accused of being a part of a pro-democracy activist group. The priest's trial lasted only one day; he was sentenced March 30. The Rome-based AsiaNews agency reported that in an unusually open gesture journalists were allowed to follow parts of the trial via closed-circuit television. Father Ly refused to stand before the court and at one point yelled "Down with the Vietnamese Communist Party," after which the video feed was cut off, reported AsiaNews.

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .