Monks step in to avert clashes at mine site - Online Burma/Myanmar ...

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April 29 - May 5, 2013
4
THE
MYANMARTIMES
m m t i m e s . c o m
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NGOs divided over latest
political prisoner release
The Former Political Prisoners Association accuses the government of ignoring the plight
of hundreds of prisoners who remain behind bars and refuses to back April 23 amnesty
By Ei Ei Toe Lwin
ACTIVISTS working with a
committee established by the
government to free political
prisoners are divided over the
latest prisoner release.
Almost 60 political prisoners
were freed under an amnesty
on April 23 but hundreds
remain behind bars, according
to activists.
The Former Political
Prisoners Association confirmed
59 political prisoners were
freed from eight prisons on
April 23 and 24. However, a
spokesperson for the group
said it had not supported the
amnesty because many more
political prisoners who it had
proposed releasing were still
in jail.
“Most prisoners [in the latest
amnesty] were freed from
Tharyarwady Prison. Many
of them are from Shan armed
forces [and their release was]
proposed by a Shan party,”
said U Thet Oo, a spokesperson
for the association’s News and
Information Committee.
From page 1
Villagers, police clash
An April 25 report in the staterun
New Light of Myanmar
said members of the Yangon
Public Service Network were
behind the unrest and had
“instigated the villagers to
commit harsh acts against
security forces”.
“Due to their instigation,
the crowed started throwing
stones at the security forces,”
the report said, adding that
security forces arrested three
people and fired three warning
shots in the air, pushing the
crowd back. The report said
some villagers even threw
handmade “fire bombs” and
wielded sticks and swords
against police, who fired rubber
bullets into the crowd.
The report warned that
“punitive actions will be
taken against those who were
taken into custody for their
anarchic acts and those who
committed unrest and violence
will be exposed and taken into
custody”.
But villagers said they would
continue to defy police and
work their land, regardless of
the section 144 order.
“We don’t care what [the
police] say. They declared [a
“The committee members
proposed a list of prisoners for
the amnesty … They asked
us to sign the list to show our
agreement. But most of them
did not meet our criteria [for
the definition of a political
prisoner] … so we didn’t signed
it,” he said.
The committee, led by
Minister for the President’s
Office U Soe Thein, was formed
on February 6 to ensure all
political prisoners are released.
It invited a number of political
parties, activist groups and
individuals, including the
National League for Democracy,
Shan Nationalities League for
Democracy, 88 Generation,
Former Political Prisoners
Association, Assistance
Association for Political
Prisoners (Burma) and
comedian Zaganar, to help it
identify those who should be
released.
“But they release prisoners
that they want. They don’t
care about our views,” said
U Thet Oo, adding that the
amnesty was a response to
the European Union’s decision
to lift sanctions. “Now we are
preparing to respond to the
amnesty.”
Altogether 93 people were
‘ They release the prisoners that they want.
They don’t care about our views.’
released under the amnesty,
which was ordered by
President U Thein Sein on
September 17 under section
204(a) of the constitution and
section 401(i) of the Code
of Criminal Procedure “to
ensure all inclusiveness in
political processes and further
strengthening the amity
between the countries and
on humanitarian and social
grounds”.
Comedian Zaganar said he
signed the committee’s list of
prisoners for release “because
I don’t want anyone to be in
prison”.
He said political parties and
civil society groups initially
believed there were still 630
political prisoners in Myanmar
jails, but after consulting with
the committee the number had
declined to 360 because some
had already been freed and
others had “disappeared”.
Zaganar said more amnesties
were likely in the near future.
“The [committee] said to us
that they would granted this
amnesty … as a first batch
and they will propose that the
president release others who
are still in prison.”
NLD spokesperson U Nyan
Win said he also signed the
committee’s prisoner release
list but was unsure about which
other groups had supported the
amnesty.
“We do not completely
agree with the committee on
everything but it doesn’t mean
we are against their [amnesty],”
he said.
Police stand in the last of three lines facing about 500 protesters near Wettmay village on April
26, in front of a sign that warns they will shoot if approached. Pic: Supplied/Han Wai Aung
curfew] in the whole region. We
will do our work. The owners
of that land haven’t sold it to
anyone and haven’t accepted
any compensation,” Ko Aung
Than Myo said.
“We won’t give up on our goal
of protecting the Letpadaung
area. We don’t care what
methods they use,” he said.
The clashes are not the first
at the mine between police and
pro testers; on November 29,
2012, police broke up a protest
camp with incendiary smoke
grenades in a pre-dawn raid,
leaving almost 100 – including
many monks – injured.
An investigation commission
set up just days after the raid
confirmed police used the
grenades but could not clarify
how they got them or who
ordered their use.
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MT co-founder freed
“I was in prison for eight years
and five months. Now my
family is my priority. I will
push for my father’s release. I
can say nothing about work at
the moment.”
But his former partner at
The Myanmar Times, Mr Ross
Dunkley, said U Myat Swe’s
release would “undoubtedly”
have an effect on the ownership
struggles that have plagued
the company in recent years.
Mr Dunkley is facing several
criminal charges following an
altercation with the wife of his
business partner, Dr Tin Tun
Oo, which occurred following
tense negotiations over the
future of the company.
Mr Dunkley called on Dr Tin
Tun Oo, who bought U Myat
Swe’s shares at a reduced price
when he was forced to sell them
in 2005, to return them to the
company’s founder.
“U Myat Swe is entitled to
buy back his shares back at no
more than the price his family
was paid for them all those
years ago,” he said.
“To be honest, I think he
should get the shares back
for free. Once this issue is
resolved, we will push on to
realise our joint ambitions.
“There hasn’t been a day
in this past eight-and-a-half
years that I haven’t thought
of him and his situation:
being in prison, being unjustly
detained for doing nothing
wrong. It’s a sad episode that
has finally [ended]. Now I
only wish to see his father
released.”
Mr Dunkley and U
Myat Swe established The
Myanmar Times in 2000. Its
parent company, Myanmar
Consolidated Media, Ltd,
remains the only foreigninvested
media organisation
in Myanmar.