Burmese-American activist jailed in Myanmar

A court in army-ruled Myanmar on Wednesday sentenced a Burmese-American pro-democracy activist to three years in prison, his lawyer said, adding to concerns over the junta's human rights record ahead of elections.                                           

Nyi Nyi Aung, a US citizen, was jailed for carrying a fake identification card and undeclared foreign currency and for failing to renounce his Myanmar citizenship.                                           

The ruling is likely to spark more condemnation of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which is seen as an international pariah because of its poor human rights record.                                           

It holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, including opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi.                                           

The US State Department urged the Myanmar government to release Nyi Nyi Aung, also known as Kyaw Zaw Lwin, and allow him to return home to the United States.                                           

"The United States is deeply concerned by the Burmese authorities'' decision today to convict U.S. citizen Kyaw Zaw Lwin ... on politically motivated charges. We consider these actions unjustified," State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said in a statement.                                           

Nyi Nyi Aung fled Myanmar in 1988 after a bloody pro-democracy uprising in which at least 3,000 people were killed. He moved to the United States in 1993 and was granted citizenship in 2002.                                           

Nyi Nyi Aung was arrested at Yangon's international airport in September and initially accused of plotting to sow unrest in the country. It was his fifth visit as a US national.                                           

He said he had hoped to visit his mother, who has thyroid cancer and his cousin, who are both imprisoned for their role in countrywide monk-led protests in 2007, the biggest challenge to the military rule since the 1988 uprising.                                           

He was convicted of three charges carrying a combined sentence of five years. But he will serve them concurrently, reducing the term to three years in Yangon's notorious Insein Prison, said the defendant's lawyer, Nyan Win.                                           

"We will arrange for an appeal to be lodged with a higher court as soon as possible," Nyan Win added.                                           

Myanmar's reclusive generals have been on an international charm offensive ahead of elections this year, which they have promised will be free, fair and inclusive.                                           

But the jailing of journalists and political activists for minor offences has continued unabated.                                           

Rights group Freedom Now called on the United States to press Myanmar's ruling junta to release Nyi Nyi Aung because the charges against him were "trumped up."                                           

"Nyi Nyi Aung has been illegally and unjustly convicted on sham charges because of his tireless advocacy for democracy and human rights in Burma," the group's president, Jared Genser, said in a statement, referring to Myanmar by its former name.                                           

The group quoted Nyi Nyi Aung's wife, Wa Wa Kyaw, as saying: "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."