The German Section of the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) and the Evangelical News Agency IDEA have named Y Krec Bya, an evangelical Christian, as the “Prisoner of the Month” for May 2025. Y Krec Bya is a member of the Evangelical Church of Christ, which is not recognised by the communist authorities of Vietnam. To suppress unregistered religious practice, authorities have attempted to coerce church members into abandoning their prayer meetings or leaving the church altogether, efforts that Bya consistently resisted. Bya belongs to the Montagnard ethnic minority, an umbrella term for approximately 30 indigenous tribes residing in Vietnam’s Central Highlands.

On April 8, 2023, the local authorities of Dak Province, Lak, arrested and sued Y Krec Bya, who was subsequently charged with “undermining the solidarity policy.” They accused him of violating criminal law by collecting and disseminating distorted information, which led to divisions between residents and authorities, as well as between religious groups. He was also accused of having been in contact with one of the founders of his church in the United States.

On March 28, 2024, a court in Dak Lak sentenced him to 13 years in prison, followed by an additional five years of probation. This is not the first time Bya has faced persecution: he was arbitrarily detained on multiple occasions in the past and was first sentenced to eight years in prison in 2004.