American gets hard labor in Myanmar

A Myanmar court yesterday sentenced an American activist to three years of hard labor, drawing an angry response from U.S. officials who called the charges "politically motivated."

Nyi Nyi Aung, 40, is a U.S. citizen born in Myanmar, also known as Burma. He was arrested in September when he returned to Rangoon to visit his mother, an imprisoned democracy activist suffering from cancer.

The government initially accused Nyi Nyi Aung of trying to foment political unrest, a charge he denied. He was eventually convicted of carrying a forged identity card and undeclared U.S. currency and for not renouncing his Myanmar nationality when he became a U.S. citizen.

The Washington Post

Source :http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100211/NEWS03/2110353/1013

Comments