Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. urged Myanmar to release one of its citizens who was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday for misrepresenting himself as he tried to enter the country, calling his conviction “unjustified.”
Kyaw Zaw Lin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, was convicted of forging an identity card, failing to declare foreign currency and neglecting to renounce his Myanmar citizenship when he tried to enter the Southeast Asian country formerly known as Burma last year. The U.S. said the charges were “politically motivated.”
“We consider these actions unjustified,” State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said in a statement. “We continue to urge the Burmese regime to release him and allow him to return home to the United States.”
The conviction threatens to stall a move toward direct talks between the U.S. and Myanmar announced last year by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. U.S. officials have repeatedly urged Myanmar to release about 2,100 political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, before elections planned for later this year.
Kyaw Zaw Lin, 40, fled Myanmar after the 1988 student demonstrations and became a U.S. citizen. He holds a degree from Purdue University in Indiana and worked for the U.S. government before working for the Myanmar pro-democracy movement full time, said Beth Schwanke, Freedom Now’s legislative counsel.
He was attempting to visit his mother, who was suffering from an illness, at the time he was caught, Schwanke said.
Source :http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-11/u-s-urges-myanmar-to-free-citizen-says-charges-unjustified-.html
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