Detained Activists Charged under Printing and Publishing Act

By Shah Paung
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
January 25, 2008

About 10 leading members of the 88 Generation Students group who were arrested in August were charged on Wednesday under Section 17/20 of Burma’s Printing and Publishing Act. Meanwhile Amnesty International condemned the Burmese military government for the continued imprisonment of political activists and expressed concern for the detainees’ health.

Family members who had visited in prison said they were told that about 10 former student leaders were charged inside the prison.

Win Maung, the father of Pyone Cho, a leader who is being detained, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that they do not know the details of who was charged, but they heard it included well-known leaders of 88 Generation Students group Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Min Zeya.

According to various family members who have recently visited detainees, the student leaders were charged under Section 17/20 of Burma’s Printing and Publishing Act at Insein Prison where they have been detained since their arrests during the protests against the hike in fuel prices in August.

Speaking alongside the sister of arrested student leader Panniek Tun, Win Maung said that they last visited Panniek Tun and Pyone Cho on Monday, but at that time the students said nothing about any formal charges.

The Burmese authorities arrested 13 leading members of the 88 Generation Students group on August 21 after they led a march protesting increased fuel prices.

On Tuesday, the Burmese authorities tried a member of the National League for Democracy, Mya Than Htike, who was arrested at a hospital while receiving medical treatment for a gunshot wound. He is currently being detained in Insein Prison.

According to Aung Thein, a lawyer in Rangoon, the police accused Mya Than Htike of being a prominent activist in September’s demonstrations. The trial was held at a court in Kyauktada Township in Rangoon.

Aung Thein said that Mya Than Htike was shot from behind on September 27 at the junction of Sule and Anawrahta roads by Burmese soldiers. On January 22 he was charged under sections 143 and 505(b) of the penal code, relating to involvement in the demonstrations.

Section 143 of the penal code carries a maximum sentence of two years, while 505(b) carries up to six months imprisonment. Mya Than Htike is now being detained at Insein Prison. His trial is due on January 29, the lawyer said.

Meanwhile, many of the detained political prisoners are in poor and deteriorating health, according to NLD spokesman Nyan Win, including: Win Mya Mya, an organizer of the Mandalay branch of the NLD; Than Lwin, vice-chairman of the NLD’s Mandalay Division and an elected candidate for Madaya Township in the 1990 elections; and Shwe Maung, a member of the NLD. All are currently being detained in Mandalay Prison.

International human rights group Amnesty International on Friday condemned the Burmese military government for its continued imprisonment of political activists and expressed its concern for the health of the detainees. In a statement released on January 25, AI said that since November 1, 2007, the military authorities had arrested no less than 96 activists.

“Four months on from the violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, rather than stop its unlawful arrests, the Myanmar [Burma] government has actually accelerated them,” said Catherine Baber, director of Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific programme.

She added: “Such prosecutions are politically motivated, imposed after proceedings that flagrantly abuse people’s rights to a free and fair trial and contravene international human rights standards.”

The group also urged the international community to press the Burmese military government to immediately invite Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the United Nations human rights envoy to Burma, to return to Burma “to conduct the full-fledged fact-finding mission he has requested.”

AI said that 1,850 political prisoners are currently detained in Burmese prisons while more than 80 persons remain unaccounted for since the September demonstrations.