A former British ambassador and her husband have been sentenced to one year in prison by Myanmar’s board of directors for violating immigration rules, a diplomatic source told AFP Friday.
A source close to the case said that Vicki Bowman and her husband, well-known Burmese artist Hattin Lin – a former political prisoner – were sentenced to one year in prison.
“We are deeply shocked by the de facto authorities’ attempt to punish people who have committed themselves to the country’s development,” said a spokeswoman for the UN human rights office in Geneva.
Bowman, who worked as a diplomat from 2002 to 2006, was arrested last month for failing to state that she lived at an address different from the one on her Alien Registration Certificate.
Htin Lin, in turn, was arrested for helping his wife stay at a different address than the one they had registered in Rangoon.
The Council at the beginning of the year described the reorganization of the United Kingdom’s diplomatic representation in Burma, which no longer sends ambassadors to Rangoon, but a chargé d’affaires a.i. – authorities denied access to the country as “unacceptable” -.
Vicki Bowman has chaired the Burma Center for Responsible Economy (MCRB) since July 2013.
She also worked as a second secretary at the British Embassy in Burma from 1990 to 1993, before becoming an ambassador. He speaks Burmese fluently.
Relations between Burma and the United Kingdom, the former colonial power, have deteriorated since last year’s coup, and London has imposed several rounds of sanctions on companies and individuals linked to the military.
Several foreigners are being held in Burma, including Japanese Toru Kubota, the fifth journalist to be arrested since the coup. All others were released and deported.
rma / pdw / pc / es / mab / meb
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