Vietnam frees jailed dissident priest ahead of Obama's visit
BANGKOK (AP) — Vietnam granted early release from prison to a Catholic priest who is one of its most prominent dissidents, a move widely seen as a goodwill gesture before U.S. President Barack Obama arrives on an official visit late Sunday night.
More than a dozen human rights groups last month sent an appeal to President Obama urging him to press Hanoi to release political prisoners.
The appeal, whose signees included Human Rights Watch as well as groups focusing on Vietnam, urged him "to make clear, both in private and in public, that (the) U.S.-Vietnamese relationship will not fundamentally advance absent meaningful human rights improvements, including the release of imprisoned activists, and end to harassment of civil society groups, and respect for international law."