Vietnam Vice Foreign Minister Le Van Bang announced at a press conference on Monday that the government will release two of the best-known religious freedom campaigners from prison - the Roman Catholic priest Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, 58, and physician Nguyen Dan Que, 63 - according to the Associated Press.

Before the Lunar New Year on 9th February, 8,323 other prisoners will also be released along with the two high-profile figures. The action has followed intense pressure from international human rights groups and the United States.

"We are absolutely delighted at this turn of events," said Jared Genser, of Washington-based Freedom Now. "It's clear Nguyen Dan Que and Father Nguyen Van Ly benefited from a massive push from around the world to secure their releases."

Father Ly was jailed because of his provocative testimony to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. He urged the United States not to ratify a bilateral trade agreement until the communist government improved its human rights record, and that outraged the Vietnamese authorities.

Que, a former Nobel Peace Prize nominee, was jailed in 2003 after he had written articles posted on the Internet criticising the government’s restriction on the media. He was accused of "abusing democratic rights to infringe upon the interests of the State."

Others granted amnesty included those who have participated in activities that encourage the communist government to be overthrown.

U.S. Congress and Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas sent a letter to the Vietnamese government earlier this month calling for Ly's release. Upon the release of Ly, Brownback said, "This is a move in the right direction. But the Vietnamese government still has a lot of work to do to ensure very basic human rights and religious freedom."

54 U.S. lawmakers sent letters in October 2004 to President Tran Duc Luong calling for Que's release as well. The next month the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared his detention violated international civil rights laws.

According to Brownback, the U.S. Congress insists that the relationship between Vietnam and the U.S. would not be advanced unless Vietnam improves its human rights record.

Last year, the State Department ranked Vietnam as one of the most repressive countries in the world for religious freedom. There are frequent church crackdowns. However, the Vietnamese government has denied that people are jailed for their religious beliefs.

Meanwhile, a court hearing will be held for two detained Mennonite church leaders at the People’s Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday 2nd February. Reverend Nguyen Hong Quang and evangelist Pham Ngoc Thach of the Vietnamese Mennonite Church are among the six Mennonites detained in a series of arrests from 2nd March 2004 onwards.

The Vietnam Mennonite Church has issued a call for prayer and fasting from 1st February to 3rd February in support of the imprisoned Mennonites. CSW reports that the request has been addressed to Mennonite bodies and evangelical Christians around the world. They will pray for strength and endurance for the prisoners, for Christians to remain faithful under pressure and persecution, and for justice to prevail at the hearing on 2nd February. The proposed time of prayer and fasting begins from 7:30a.m. on 1st February to 5:00p.m. on 3rd February.

"The international community must shine the light of truth and justice on this case at this pivotal moment of appeal," said Tina Lambert, Advocacy Director of Christian Solidarity Worldwide. "A failure by the Court to grant the appeal will be a damning indictment not only on Vietnam’s respect for human rights and religious freedom but on the legal system itself."