Burmese to review jailing of Britons

SENIOR FIGURES in Burma's military regime are seriously considering concerns raised about two jailed Britons, the Foreign Office said yesterday.

The British ambassador to Rangoon, John Jenkins, yesterday met the Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister and Attorney General to discuss the cases of Rachel Goldwyn, 28, and James Mawdsley, 26.

Miss Goldwyn, from Barnes, south-west London, was jailed for seven years last week after being arrested by military police for staging a pro-democracy protest earlier this month. Her sentence came three weeks after Mr Mawdsley, a Bristol University graduate, from Halsall, Lancashire, was sentenced to 17 years for illegally entering Burma and carrying anti-government literature.

Mr Jenkins requested the meeting to raise concerns about the handling of the cases and to ask for an appeal by Miss Goldwyn to be speeded up. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "He expressed concern about the way the cases had been handled and the severity of their sentences. He asked for access to be granted to both of them soon and that Rachel's appeal be heard as soon as possible."