U.S. citizen faces years in Myanmar prison

BANGKOK, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- A naturalized U.S. citizen who returned to his native Myanmar faces 12 years imprisonment if convicted by a Myanmar court, said human rights activists.

Nyi Nyi Aung, 40, was arrested in Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, in September and a court is to announce a verdict Wednesday on charges that include possessing a forged identity card and undeclared foreign currency, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Nyi Nyi Aung was arrested soon after landing in Yangon in what friends said appeared to have been a trap by the government.

Nyi Nyi Aung had made four trips to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, since becoming a U.S. citizen in 2002. He likely was arrested in September because the government had singled him out for his advocacy efforts to promote democracy in Myanmar, said Aung Din, head of the U.S. Campaign for Burma in Washington, a human right groups.

"If any of us had known he was returning, we would have stopped him," Aung Din told the newspaper.

Nyi Nyi Aung's mother, Daw San San Tin, who has thyroid cancer, is serving five years in a Myanmar prison for her involvement pro-democracy activities.