A Myanmar court sentenced a top leader of an ethnic rebel group to life imprisonment for high treason on Tuesday, his lawyer said, a move that could complicate a government-led peace process aimed at settling decades-old separatist conflicts.
Phado Man Nyein Maung, a senior political figure in the Karen National Union (KNU), was found guilty under Myanmar's Illegal Association Act for his involvement in a long-running rebellion and is expected to serve 20 years in prison.
His lawyer, Kyi Myint, told Reuters he had sought leniency because his client had been liaising with the government on a possible truce with the KNU while awaiting trial in Yangon's notorious Insein Prison since July 2011. He was deported from China. "During interrogation, responsible government officials asked him for advice on peace talks with the KNU and they also assured him that they would request clemency from the president," he said.
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