Vietnam Jails Montagnard Protestant Pastor For 7.5 Years

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

HANOI (Worthy News) – A Vietnamese court has sentenced Montagnard Protestant pastor Y Nuen Ayun to seven and a half years in prison on charges of “undermining the national unity policy,” trial observers told Worthy News on Monday.

During the August 5 procedures, the People’s Court of Đắk Lắk Province also told the 59-year-old that he would be placed under four years of probationary supervision following completion of the prison sentence, Christians said.

“According to state media and the indictment cited during the proceedings, Y Nuen Ayun had been involved in organizing and leading unregistered Protestant religious activities since 2003,” confirmed advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), which closely followed the case.

He later became associated with an individual identified as A Ga, who reportedly resides in the United States and whom authorities claim supports “separatist movements through Protestant churches in Vietnam’s Central Highlands,” CSW told Worthy News.

Prosecutors alleged that, beginning in 2019, Y Nuen Ayun “participated in establishing and operating an organization known as the ‘Church of Christ Central Highlands’ and maintained communication with A Ga regarding religious activities.”

PASTOR ACCUSED OF SEPARATISM

The prosecution said Y Nuen Ayun helped organize religious gatherings, conducted online and in-person meetings, recruited participants, submitted reports to overseas human rights organizations, and received more than 7.7 million Vietnamese dong ($294) to support organizational activities.

“The authorities further alleged that these activities were intended to promote the creation of a separate religious organization for ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands,” CSW added.

Local authorities had reportedly met with and warned Y Nuen Ayun regarding his activities. Prosecutors argued that his actions violated Article 116 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code concerning the offense of “undermining the national unity policy.”

However, CSW Founder President Mervyn Thomas told Worthy News that Communist-run “Vietnam continues to flagrantly flaunt international standards of human rights law in its targeted campaign against freedom of religion or belief, in the process making a mockery of its standing as a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council.”

He added that religious minorities, especially Christians in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, are “mischaracterized as wanting to foster anti-Vietnamese and separatist sentiment, when in reality they are simply seeking the right to practice their religion of choice in peace.”

CHRISTIAN GROUP DEMANDS RELEASE

“This is exactly what has happened to Pastor Y Nuen Ayun, and we therefore call for his immediate and unconditional release,” Thomas stressed.

The case highlighted broader concerns about the plight of Christians in the region. The majority of Vietnam’s Montagnard community are Protestant Christians and live in the country’s Central Highlands, according to CSW investigators.

The community has a long history of conflict with the Vietnamese government and has faced “intense harassment and intimidation since a June 2023 attack on provincial Communist party offices in Dak Lak that left nine dead, including local party officials and police,” CSW recalled.

Vietnam ranks 55th on the 2026 World Watch List of Christian advocacy group Open Doors, falling 11 places from 44th last year and therefore dropping outside the annual Top 50 ranking of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution.

Open Doors said the lower ranking was chiefly due to a decline in reported violence against Christians, with no Christians recorded as having been killed for their faith and no churches reported attacked during the latest reporting period.

CHRISTIAN PRESSURE REMAINS

However, Open Doors stressed that pressure facing Christians in other areas of life increased slightly, despite the decline in reported violence.

The group said local authorities particularly target non-traditional Protestants and ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, while Vietnam’s Communist government continues to control registered churches and religious activities through its Committee on Religious Affairs.

The imprisonment of Pastor Y Nuen Ayun underscored concerns among religious freedom advocates that ethnic-minority Christians worshipping outside state-approved religious structures continue to face prosecution and pressure from authorities.

Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.

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