| Home > South-East Asia >> Burma | |
Burmese-American activist gets three years in prison
Irrawaddy - February 10, 2010
Saw Yan Naing – A court at Rangoon's Insein Prison sentenced Burmese-American activist Nyi Nyi Aung to three years imprisonment on Wednesday, according to his lawyer, Nyan Win.
The court initially sentenced the activist to five years in prison with hard labor, but this was later commuted to three years.
Speaking with The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, Nyan Win said his client was sentenced under Article 468 of the Penal Code for possessing a fake Burmese ID card and Article 24/1 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act for illegal possession of a foreign currency. He was also found guilty of failing to renounce his Burmese citizenship.
He added that he plans to file an appeal after reviewing the court's decision.
Nyi Nyi Aung, 40, was arrested by Burmese authorities on Sept. 3 last year after arriving at Rangoon's international airport on a flight from Bangkok. A political refugee who resettled in the US in 1993, he returned to Burma to visit his mother, who is also a political prisoner.
Khin Khin Shwe, Nyin Nyin Aung's aunt in Rangoon, told The Irrawaddy: "We can do nothing [about the sentence], so we are preparing to submit an appeal for him next week. We did not get a chance to meet him today."
Meanwhile, US-based human rights advocacy group Freedom Now released a statement on Wednesday saying that the conviction against Nyi Nyi Aung is based on sham charges.
Wa Wa Kyaw, Nyi Nyi Aung's fiance in Maryland, told Freedom Now: "All of Burma knows that these are bogus charges. The junta is looking to stifle Nyi Nyi just as they have the 2,100 other political prisoners in Burma. I can only hope that the government of the United States won't let Burma illegally imprison its own citizen."
Beth Schwanke, an international counsel for Nyi Nyi Aung at Freedom Now, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday: "These are false charges. We call on the junta to immediately release Nyi Nyi."
Nyi Nyi Aung, also known as Kyaw Zaw Lwin, was tortured while undergoing interrogation at Insein prison and last December launched a hunger strike to protest against conditions for political prisoners.
Nyi Nyi Aung was a student activist during Burma's 1988 pro-democracy uprising. He later fled to the Thai-Burmese border and was subsequently granted political asylum in the US.
He returned to Burma last September to visit his mother, San San Tin, who is currently serving a 5-year prison sentence for participating in anti-government demonstrations in September 2007. His cousin, Thet Thet Aung, is serving a 65-year prison sentence for her involvement in the same protests.
In a statement released today, Jared Genser, president of Freedom Now, said, "Nyi Nyi Aung has been illegally and unjustly convicted on sham charges because of his tireless advocacy for democracy and human rights in Burma.
"We call on President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to make Nyi Nyi's release a priority in the US government's relations with Burma," said Genser.
See also:
 |