The Assistant Secretary of State Tom Malinowski, accused Myanmar of using "police state tactics" after five journalists were sentenced to ten years hard labour over a contentious claim of involvement in a weapons factory, AP reported.
Acknowledging problems of irresponsible reporting or poor journalistic ethics, he stressed in an interview with AP on Wednesday that "the way to deal with those problems is not through the tactics of a police state," and urged the case to be reviewed.
"If your response is to arrest journalists, we are going to go back to the kind of relationship between Burma and the rest of the world that is not in your interests," he added.
His comments come as the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Myanmar, arrived in the country on Wednesday to undertake a ten day trip in order to assess the situation following ethnic violence in Rakhine state and the second largest city of Mandalay.
The official, Yanghee Lee, is on her first visit to Myanmar, since taking over the post from her predecessor last month.
She is due to submit her report on the human rights situation in Myanmar to the UN General Assembly during its 69th session in October this year.