U.S. citizen in Burma is sentenced to three years in prison

BANGKOK -- A Burmese court on Wednesday sentenced a Montgomery County activist to three years of hard labor, drawing an angry response from U.S. officials who called the allegations against the man "politically motivated."

Nyi Nyi Aung, 40, is a Burmese-born U.S. citizen. 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 Burmese nationality when he became a U.S. citizen.

Nyi Nyi Aung's attorneys and supporters, including the Washington-based rights group Freedom Now, said he was arrested before he reached the customs checkpoint at the airport and had no chance to declare his currency. They said that even Burmese authorities admitted there was no process to allow people such as Nyi Nyi Aung to renounce their citizenship at the country's embassies.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Mei condemned the ruling and urged the government to release Nyi Nyi Aung, the Associated Press reported. Referring to Nyi Nyi Aung by his legal name on his U.S. passport, Mei said: "We are deeply concerned by the unjustified conviction. We believe the charges against Kyaw Zaw Lwin were politically motivated."

Nyi Nyi Aung is a well-known democracy activist. After fleeing Burma, also known as Myanmar, Nyi Nyi Aung was granted refuge in the United States.

-- Financial Times