Hanoi, Vietnam - One of Vietnam's most prominent religious dissidents, Thich Quang Do, has urged the European Union to help improve human rights in the country.
The deputy leader of the banned Unified Buddhist Church has met Britain's ambassador to Vietnam, Robert Gordon, and an EU adviser despite being under de facto house arrest.
Mr Do and church patriarch, Thich Huyen Quang, accused of possessing state secrets and placed under house arrest in October 2003.
However, the Vietnamese government says the pair are now free.
The Unified Buddhist Church church has been banned since 1981 for refusing to submit to Communist Party supervision.
Both dissidents have consistently asked for religious freedom and major political reforms in Vietnam.
Hanoi has been criticised for its lack of religious freedom and harassment of political dissidents.
The United States has included Vietnam on its blacklist of "countries of particular concern" for violating religious freedoms.