Woman activist sentenced to 26 years in prison

by Than Htike Oo
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - A court inside Mandalay's Oh Bo prison has sentenced Kathy Aung, a woman activist, to 26 years in prison. She had been arrested on charges of unlawful association.

Kathy Aung, was handed a long prison term on November 24, 2008 on charges that she had attended training imparted by an exiled opposition group, Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB), based near the Thai- Burma border in 2008.

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"The girl has been charged on four counts. She was charged with two counts of associating with illegal associations. And another two counts under the emergency Immigration Act. All together she has been sentenced to 26 years," Myint Thwin, a lawyer fighting her case, told Mizzima.

Kathy Aung was sentenced to 16 years for two counts each under the Illegal Association Act 17/1, and Act 17/2, and 10 years under the Emergency Immigration Act.

Lawyer Myint Thwin had recently visited the family members of Kathy Aung in order to work as her defense counsel.

Kathy Aung was arrested in September 2008, at her residence in Mandalay, Burma's second largest city, and was detained for over two months in Oh Bo prison, before being tried and sentenced to 26 years of imprisonment.

mizzima.com