HANOI (AFP) ? The family of a Catholic priest who is one of Vietnam's best-known dissidents expressed concern over his health Tuesday following his re-arrest after more than a year of medical leave from jail.
Nguyen Van Ly, who is aged in his early 60s, was allowed to leave prison last year to seek treatment for a brain tumour, but was taken into custody again on Monday despite continuing health problems, relatives told AFP.
He had been serving an eight-year sentence after being convicted of propaganda against the state in 2007, a verdict that drew condemnation from diplomats and human rights groups.
His family has said he suffered three strokes in 2009.
"They arrested him although his health is not good," a relative told AFP. "He has not recovered from his illness. He can't walk well."
Vietnam News, the state's official English-language newspaper, reported his arrest on Tuesday, citing activities including distributing documents that opposed the government and inciting people to disturb security.
"Although the authorised agencies extended the time allotted for his treatment and reprimanded him many times, Ly continued to defy the law of the State of Vietnam," it said.
At his controversial trial, prosecutors said Ly was a founding member of the banned "Bloc 8406", considered by analysts as the first organised pro-democracy coalition inside the country.
During the case Ly yelled "Communist court!" and denounced the proceedings as the "law of the jungle" before a policeman covered his mouth with his hands.
More recently Ly has produced numerous emails calling for hunger strikes against the government and advocating a multi-party system.
Ly's arrest followed months of uncertainty over his sentence after the expiry of a one-year suspension of his prison term ordered by a court on March 15, 2010.
In early March this year, a government spokeswoman said Ly would be sent back to jail if his health returned to normal, but there was no official follow-up until he was re-arrested on Monday.
The relative said that Ly, who had been staying at a church compound in the Hue area of central Vietnam, was taken to Ha Nam prison near Hanoi.
His arrest happened just ahead of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's re-election for a second term on Tuesday, a development that activists fear heralds a tougher climate for dissidents in the one-party state.
Authorities separately announced Tuesday that a French-Vietnamese lecturer and blogger, arrested last year for an alleged subversion plot against the communist regime, will be tried on August 10 in the southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City.
Pham Minh Hoang, who has dual nationality, faces a charge of "carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration", said an official who refused to be named.
France's foreign ministry has voiced "serious concern" about the case.
Conviction on the charge, which has been used against other dissidents, could bring up to 15 years' imprisonment.
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