Myanmar court jails US man for three years: lawyer

YANGON — A Myanmar court on Wednesday sentenced a US citizen to three years in prison for fraud and forgery, his lawyer told AFP, despite calls by 50 US lawmakers for his release.

Rights activist Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, was sentenced to three years in jail for forging an identity card, one year for failing to declare currency at customs and one year for violating immigration law.

"He has to serve the prison terms concurrently," said his lawyer Nyan Win, who also represents the country's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"We will appeal the sentence," he added.

Kyaw Zaw Lwin was arrested in September and a verdict for the 40-year-old had been expected late last month but the court delayed the ruling.

Washington DC-based rights group Freedom Now immediately condemned the verdict.

"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, using the country's former name.

The group called on the US government to make the activist's release a priority, amid a faltering rapprochement in its relations with the Myanmar regime.

In December, more than 50 US lawmakers wrote to junta chief Than Shwe, urging him to release the Myanmar-born detainee from prison amid health worries.

New York-based Human Rights watch has also called for his release and said the charges -- which Kyaw Zaw Lwin denied -- were "trumped-up" by the regime in Myanmar.

Kyaw Zaw Lwin's supporters said he had visited the country in the hope of seeing his ailing mother, herself detained over political activities, when he was arrested on September 3.

His lawyers say he was deprived of food, sleep, medical treatment and US consular access in his first two weeks of detention.

Kyaw Zaw Lwin's fiancee and his Washington-based lawyer said in December he had gone on a hunger strike to demand better conditions for political prisoners and was in deteriorating health.

The military regime has continued to crackdown on dissenting voices as it plans for national elections this year.

In late January the courts gave a 13-year jail term to journalist Ngwe Soe Lin who worked for exiled media, and in December, 25-year-old freelance video reporter Hla Hla Win was imprisoned for 20 years on similar charges.

Democracy icon Suu Kyi on Tuesday told her lawyer Nyan Win that it is too early for her party to decide whether to take part in Myanmar's polls while there is no freedom of expression and information.

The elections have been promised for this year but no date has yet been set and critics say the plans are simply to entrench the generals' power.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962 and an election this year would be the country's first since 1990 when Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won by a landslide but was never permitted to take office.

The military regime has defied persistent international appeals by keeping Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for most of the past two decades.

Source :http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jtnsQ_HOQQBURMPnaxE3ja4uQ0cg

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