Myanmar sentences 3 UN staff to jail for violence

Myanmar

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YANGON, Myanmar — The United Nations says a court in Myanmar has sentenced three of its staff to prison terms for their alleged involvement in a spate of bloody communal violence in the west of the country in June.

U.N. spokesman Aye Win said today that a court in the Rakhine state town of Maungdaw sentenced two U.N. refugee agency employees to jail terms of six and three years. One U.N. World Food Program staffer was sentenced to two years.

Aye Win says the staffers were convicted of various crimes, including alleged participation in arson attacks and promoting hatred between Buddhists and Muslims.

All the employees are Myanmar natives.

Violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in June left more 80 people dead and thousands of homes burned to the ground.