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Myanmar policeman describes ‘trap’ to arrest Reuters reporter

April 20, 2018/in News

YANGON (Reuters) – A Myanmar police chief ordered officers to “trap” a Reuters reporter arrested in December, telling them to meet the journalist at a restaurant and give him “secret documents”, prosecution witness Police Captain Moe Yan Naing told a court on Friday. Moe Yan Naing gave details to the court of the hours leading […]

Myanmar to free more than 8,000 prisoners in New Year amnesty

April 18, 2018/in News

YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar began releasing more than 8,000 prisoners on Tuesday on humanitarian grounds under a presidential pardon, with most of those being released convicted of drug offences but with 36 people classified as political prisoners among them. Newly released prisoners, part of over 8,000 inmates granted amnesty by Myanmar’s President Win Myint to […]

Myanmar policeman describes ‘trap’ to arrest Reuters reporter

April 20, 2018/in News

Myanmar to free more than 8,000 prisoners in New Year amnesty

April 18, 2018/in News

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Myanmar policeman describes ‘trap’ to arrest Reuters reporter

April 20, 2018/in News

Moe Yan Naing gave details to the court of the hours leading up to the Dec. 12 arrest of Wa Lone, 32, and Reuters colleague Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, who had accompanied him to the meeting, and said the police had arranged a “set up”.

The court in Yangon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether the pair will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

They had been working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, during an army crackdown that United Nations agencies say has sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

Seven soldiers have been sentenced to “10 years in prison with hard labor in a remote area” for participating in the massacre, the army said this month.

Reuters was unable to immediately obtain a comment from lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung as the proceedings were ongoing. Myanmar police spokesman Police Colonel Myo Thu Soe could not be reached for comment.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately reachable for comment. He has previously told Reuters that under Myanmar’s constitution the courts were independent and has declined to comment on the case, citing the ongoing proceedings.

“GET WA LONE”

In his testimony, the police captain said he had been interviewed in November by Wa Lone about police operations in Rakhine state. He was one of two officers from the paramilitary 8th Security Police Battalion who the police identified in December as “allegedly involved in the case”.

Moe Yan Naing said he had been under arrest since the night of Dec. 12 and had been told to testify on Friday as a prosecution witness.

He said that earlier on the day the Reuters reporters were arrested he was picked up from his post in Yangon and taken to Battalion 8’s headquarters on the northern edges of the city.

When he arrived, he said he found himself among a group of several other Battalion 8 policemen who had given interviews to Wa Lone. They were interrogated by a police “information team” about their interactions with the Reuters reporter, he said.

Moe Yan Naing told the court that police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko, who led the internal probe, ordered police Lance Corporal Naing Lin to arrange a meeting with Wa Lone that night and hand over “secret documents from Battalion 8”.

“Police Brigadier Tin Ko Ko gave the documents to Police Lance Corporal Naing Lin and told him to give them to Wa Lone and said that when Wa Lone comes out of the restaurant, the Htaunt Kyant regional police force has to entrap him and arrest him,” said Moe Yan Naing.

“Police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko told the police members, ‘if you don’t get Wa Lone, you will go to jail’,” said Moe Yan Naing in a raised voice.

Reuters was not immediately able to reach Tin Ko Ko for comment.

DINNER MEETING

The reporters have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Yangon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.

Neither policeman has given testimony so far during the court proceedings.

Previous police witnesses have said the reporters were stopped and searched at a traffic checkpoint by officers who were unaware they were journalists, and were found to be holding documents relating to security force deployments in Rakhine.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been in custody since Dec. 12.

Senior U.N. officials, Western nations and press freedom advocates have called for their release and diplomats from several embassies were among those attending Friday’s hearing.

REUTERS

Myanmar to free more than 8,000 prisoners in New Year amnesty

April 18, 2018/in News

Newly released prisoners, part of over 8,000 inmates granted amnesty by Myanmar’s President Win Myint to mark Myanmar’s new year, walk out from Insein prison in Yangon, Myanmar April 17, 2018. REUTERS/Ann Wang

The pardon, signed by newly elected President Win Myint, coincides with Myanmar’s traditional new year celebrations and was aimed at promoting peace and the joy of the people, his office said in a statement.

“To bring peace and pleasure to people’s heart, and for the sake of humanitarian support, 8,490 prisoners from respective prisons will be pardoned,” the Presidential Office said.

Dozens of prisoners were set free later on Tuesday from Insein prison in Myanmar’s main city of Yangon, greeted at the gates of the colonial-era jail by scores of relatives and friends.

“I’m happy for this amnesty but I’m sorry for the other prisoners left behind,” said Saw Wah Lay, a member of a political party affiliated with an ethnic Karen insurgent group, the Karen National Liberation Army.

He said he had spent 13 years in Insein jail after being sentenced to death and a 95-year prison term for murder and other charges.

“I hope they will be released soon because some of them are facing unfair charges without having done anything wrong,” he told reporters.

Two Reuters reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, jailed in Myanmar were not included in the amnesty, according to Min Tun Soe, spokesman of Myanmar Prisons Department, citing ongoing legal proceedings against them.

A court in Yangon has been holding preliminary hearings since January to decide whether the pair will be charged under the colonial-era Officials Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has made ending years of war between government forces and ethnic minority insurgents her top priority but the releases announced on Tuesday did not appear to include a significant number of people convicted for links to insurgencies.

‘VERY GOOD NEWS’

More than 6,000 of those being released were sentenced on drug charges, government spokesman Zaw Htay said on his Facebook page.

He did not identify any of those being released but said nearly 2,000 were members of the military and police, jailed under the Military Act or Police Disciplinary Act. He did not elaborate.

Zaw Htay also said 36 prisoners on a list issued by the human rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) were included in the amnesty.

Hundreds of political prisoners have been released from Myanmar’s jails in amnesties in recent years, including dozens freed in April 2016, days after Nobel laureate Suu Kyi’s party took power following nearly 50 years of strict military rule.

Before Tuesday’s pardon, there were 240 political activists jailed or awaiting trial in Myanmar, the AAPP said.

“This amnesty is very good news and we welcome and support it,” said a representative of the group, Aung Myo Kyaw.

“But there should not be a single political prisoner in a democratic country,” he said.

Slideshow (6 Images)

Suu Kyi, who spent years under house arrest, has said that releasing all remaining political prisoners was a top priority.

She has faced criticism at home over slow economic growth and the stuttering peace process.

Her government has also faced mounting international condemnation over a military operation against Rohingya Muslims that has sent nearly 700,000 members of the minority community fleeing to Bangladesh, according to U.N. figures.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Twitter on Monday she had met representatives of Reuters and prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney to discuss efforts for the release of the two Reuters reporters “jailed for doing their job”.

“Freedom of press & rule of law are the bases that democracies are built on & we hope Burmese authorities will realize the importance of this release to the int’l community,” Haley wrote.

Clooney has joined the legal team representing the two reporters, her office said last month.

A Reuters spokesperson confirmed the meeting and said the company would continue to do all it could to secure the release of the two reporters.

reuters.com

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ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

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“GET WA LONE”

DINNER MEETING

‘VERY GOOD NEWS’

ND Burma

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