Hoà was arrested on July 30, 2011 at Tan Son Nhat Airport along with Dang Xuan Dieu and Nguyen Van Oai upon their return to Vietnam.
A trial was held on January 8 and 9 by the People's Court of Nghệ An Province for 14 social activists, including Paulus Lê Sơn and Hoà.
[2] During the court case, Hoà was accused of involved in a training session organised by Viet Tan,[3] a US-based pro-democracy organization to establish democracy and reform Vietnam through peaceful and political means.
[6] Hoà's arrest sparked immediate uproar from various NGO's and Members of Congress including Human Rights Watch which described it as a "new blot on the country’s already problematic record on freedom of religion".
[8] Stanford Law School's Allen Weiner filed a petition to the United Nations Working Group for Arbitrary Detention (UNGWAD) on behalf of the families of the detained activists including Hoà in July 2012.