Jailed Myanmar writer is courageous, should be freed - U.N.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Myanmar should unconditionally release a writer jailed for insulting Buddhism or risk creating a new generation of political prisoners, the U.N. human rights office said in a statement on Wednesday.

Htin Lin Oo, a former official with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, was sentenced to two years of jail and hard labour on Tuesday for comments made in a speech he said was meant to discourage Buddhist extremism.