Burmese media say a local journalist has been sentenced to two years in
prison for covering a rally by victims of a devastating cyclone.
Media sources say a court in Rangoon sentenced Ein Khaing Oo on Friday
after a closed-door trial, in which she had no defense lawyer. She was
convicted of taking photos that could be used by foreign news
organizations to harm Burmese interests.
The reporter for Burmese magazine "Eco Vision" already had spent five
months in prison. She was arrested June 10th while covering the rally
of cyclone survivors outside a United Nations building in Rangoon.
The participants in the rally were appealing for aid from the U.N.
Development Program after failing to get help from Burmese authorities.
Cyclone Nargis battered Burma's Irrawaddy Delta in early May, leaving around 130-thousand people dead or missing.
Media rights group Reporters Without Borders expressed outrage at Ein
Khaing Oo's jail sentence and appealed to Burma's military rulers to
free her.