Pastor Y Yich, pastor of the Protestant Church in Vietnam, has been released from prison after serving 12 years imprisonment for his faith according to ICC News.
Pastor Yich was arrested in May 2013, then sentenced in November 2013 to 12 years in prison plus three to five years probation, for “undermining the solitary policy”, through “spreading Degar Protestantism, using the internet to communicate with Montagnard pastors and separatists living in the United States, and meeting with prisoners of conscience”.
He has been repeatedly harassed over the decades for his religious activity. During this latest imprisonment, Pastor Yich was reportedly tortured leading to a number of health conditions, and was refused access to medical care.
Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis, who advocated for Pastor Yich’s release through the Defending Freedoms Project of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, stated that, “I hope Y Yich can now experience the peace and dignity he has long been denied. Sadly, we know that the Vietnamese government often continues to closely monitor former prisoners. I urge the US and the international community to stand with those like Y Yich, who courageously fight for the right to worship freely.”
