(RSF/IFEX) – On 4 June 2004, RSF and the Burma Media Association (BMA) issued a joint call for an investigation into the kidnapping of exiled Burmese journalist and pro-democracy activist Minn Kyaw in Malaysia. Kyaw was forced from his car on 1 June while en route to Kuala Lumpur airport to cover the arrival of […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 4 June 2004, RSF and the Burma Media Association (BMA) issued a joint call for an investigation into the kidnapping of exiled Burmese journalist and pro-democracy activist Minn Kyaw in Malaysia. Kyaw was forced from his car on 1 June while en route to Kuala Lumpur airport to cover the arrival of the Burmese prime minister, General Khin Nyunt.
In a letter to Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the two organisations condemned the kidnapping, saying, “It would be shocking to think that, in addition to offering an official state reception to the head of a tyrannical and illegal regime, Malaysian authorities would go as far as preventing journalists from doing their work for fear of offending a Burmese general.”
Another Burmese journalist, Sein Mar, is currently being held in Malaysia for demonstrating against the Burmese regime.
According to Kyaw, who is editor-in-chief of “Burma Media Link” magazine and represents the BMA in Malaysia, he was kidnapped while on his way to the airport with his wife by men alleging to be with the Malaysian police’s special branch. Two vehicles forced their car to stop. A man ran towards the car, opened the door and shouted, “We want Minn Kyaw!” The journalist was forced out of the vehicle, handcuffed and hood was placed over his head.
He was taken to a southern suburb of the city and held in a container. After several hours without food or water, he was interrogated by a Burmese woman. His captors, who beat him during his detention, asked about his local campaigning for democracy in Burma and his support for Burmese refugees in Malaysia. The woman accused him of “insulting Burma” in articles he had written and in comments on local radio stations. She also demanded to know where he got the money to publish “Burma Media Link”.
Kyaw has United Nations (UN) refugee status.
His wife, Yassra Sahril, has filed a complaint with police. The officer in charge of the investigation said the case was a “delicate matter”, but declined to comment on whether the kidnapping had been ordered by the authorities, adding only that, “the enquiry is continuing.” On 3 June, police refused to allow Kyaw’s lawyer to be present during an interview with the journalist.
In a separate case, Sein Mar, editor of the newsletter “Yaung Chee Oo” (“The New Twilight”), has been held in Kuala Lumpur since 17 May. She was arrested after demonstrating in front of the Burmese embassy against the regime’s proposed national convention. The journalist has UN refugee status in Malaysia and her seven-year-old daughter has been taken in by a local UN centre. RSF and the BMA have called for her release, saying she was simply protesting peacefully in favour of free expression.
