Oct 20, 2008 (DVB), Two members of the 88 Generation Students group have each been sentenced to three years' imprisonment for illegally trading in foreign currency, according to their lawyer Khin Maung Shein.
The sentence was handed down after a hearing by San Chaung township court, which was held in Insein prison's special court.
88 Generation Student members Khin Moe Aye and Kyaw Soe were arrested at a guest house in Mon state’s Kyaikhto township by local Military Affairs Security officials.
They were later sent to Insein prison and prosecuted by the police Special Information Bureau for illegally trading foreign currencies.
Khin Maung Shein said the pair were given the maximum penalty for the offence but maintained their innocence.
"Ko Kyaw Soe was in Kyaikhto to collect 1.6 million kyat in Burmese currency for his insecticide business," Khin Maung Shein said.
"Later he and Ma Khin Moe Aye went for a short visit to Kyaikhteyo pagoda where he ran into a family of foreign tourists who were short on Burmese money, so he helped them out by giving them 30,000 kyat and they gave him a denim jacket and a pair of jeans in return," he said.
"The two were arrested that night by the Kyaikhto [township] MAS who never gave a reason for the arrest."
Reporting by Nan Kham Kaew