Vietnam sends ailing dissident priest back to jail

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HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — An ailing Catholic priest who is one of Vietnam's best-known democracy activists was sent back to jail more than a year after going home on medical parole, an official said Tuesday.

Police escorted the Rev. Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, 64, on Monday night from his home at a church in central Hue city to Ba Sao prison outside the northern capital of Hanoi, a prison official said on condition of anonymity, citing policy.

In March 2010, Ly, a longtime human rights activist, was released from prison because he had a brain tumor and had suffered three strokes during his three years in custody.

Ly's one-year medical parole expired March 15 and he defied a court order to return to jail, the official said, adding that authorities had to force him back to prison.

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