Catholic Church officials announced that Fr Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly was released from jail on Friday morning, AFP reported.

President Obama started a three-day visit to Vietnam on Monday.

"Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly has returned to the mother diocese on Friday morning after his years and months in (northern) Nam Ha jail," Hue archdiocese announced.

The archdiocese's website ran several photos of the ageing priest, dressed in a loose white shirt and baseball cap, being welcomed by church members.

Neither church nor government officials were immediately available for comment.

Fr Ly, who is in his early 70s, is often compared to Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi.

Both are veteran dissidents who have spent years in pursuit of greater democratic freedoms.

Fr Ly was jailed three times for a total of 14 years before his fourth and latest imprisonment in March 2007.

This came after he was charged for spreading propaganda against the communist state.

He had been accused of helping to found "Bloc 8406", considered one of the Vietnam's first organised pro-democracy coalitions.

He gained prominence with his anti-government actions, including hunger strikes and several widely circulated missives calling for a multi-party system.

Fr Ly was briefly released from jail in March 2010 to seek treatment for a brain tumour and was placed under house arrest.

He was returned to jail more than a year later, sparking calls from the United States and international rights groups for his release.

Priorities for President Obama's visit to Vietnam are believed to be trade, security and human rights issues.

Several political prisoners remain in jail in Vietnam.

Sources

• AFP
• ABC News
• Image: (Catholic Archdiocese of Hue via AP)

The People's Supreme Court upheld the jail term of 30 months for lawyer and dissident Joseph Le Quoc Quan for charges of tax evasion.

His firm was also fined 1.29 billion dong (approximately US $61,000), local sources said.

Church sources stated that only Quan's mother and wife were allowed to be at the four-hour appeal trial, while hundreds of Quan supporters stood outside in the cold and rain.

Supporters had attended a special Mass at Redemptorist-run Thai Ha Church and then marched to the court.

Security officials prevented people from entering the court by erecting barriers on streets leading to it. Police also took photos and video of supporters.

Quan started his hunger strike on February 2 to demand jail authorities give him access to religious books and to a priest for Confession and Communion.

His hunger strike is also a way to protest against the legal process.

The blogger and human rights lawyer is well-known for taking part in pro-democracy activities and giving legal support to Catholics petitioning the government to return church properties.

Quan's firm also provided legal aid to factory workers and poor people.

The United States said it was "deeply concerned" by the decision to uphold the conviction, which it called inconsistent with Vietnam's international commitments to freedom of expression.

"The use of tax laws by Vietnamese authorities to imprison government critics for peacefully expressing their political views is disturbing," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

Quan's arrest in 2012 came nine days after the BBC published his article criticising the Vietnamese constitution.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• South China Morning Post
• Image: South China Morning Post