Updated

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — An official says a Vietnamese pro-democracy activist has been released after serving three and a half years in prison for spreading anti-communist information.

The official at the Z30A prison in southern Dong Nai province lawyer Nguyen Bac Truyen was freed on Monday and taken home by his family members. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Truyen, member of the banned People's Democratic Party, was sentenced to four years in prison in May 2007 and an appeal court three months later reduced the term by six months.

Two other members of his party were sentenced to three and five years respectively on the same charges.