british woman gets seven years hard

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Subject: british woman gets seven years hard labour

A 28-year old British woman has been sentenced to seven years in a Burmese jail for taking part in anti-government activities. 

Londoner Rachel Goldwyn was arrested on September 7 after she tied herself to a lamp post in central Rangoon and shouted pro-democracy slogans. 

Her mother, Charmian Goldwyn, said: "We are absolutely devastated. We really didn't expect it. We expected a suspended sentence. 

"It is terrible trying to ring the family up. Everybody cries when I tell them and then I cry again. We are devastated." 

Mrs Goldwyn told Sky News that it took five days before she was told which prison her daughter was being held in. Rachel's sister Naomi said she was concerned for her younger sister's health. "She has only just got over a bout of malaria and she has an irregular heart beat," Ms Goldwyn told Sky News. 

"I know there are incidents of malaria in other prisons outside of Rangoon," she added. Presiding judge Tin Maung Lwin said the sentence would have to be served "with labour". 

Goldwyn had admitted staging the protest but said she did not intend to incite unrest. Her lawyer, Kyi Win, had argued that shouting pro-democracy slogans and singing a pro-democracy song were not crimes. 

On September 1, James Mawdsley, 26, from Lancashire, who also holds an Australian passport, was jailed for 17 years after entering the country illegally carrying pro-democracy leaflets. 

The government said it could not be lenient in his case as it was his third arrest for similar protests in Burma, which the ruling junta call Myanmar. 

Political analysts say Goldwyn may later have her sentence suspended and be deported given it was her first offence. 
sky news


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