(RSF/IFEX) – On 11 March 2005, two RSF representatives, along with a French police officer, were held for more than two hours inside the Burmese embassy in Paris. Other activists were surrounded by policemen outside. RSF had gone to the embassy to deliver a letter to the Burmese ambassador. The ambassador refused to accept the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 11 March 2005, two RSF representatives, along with a French police officer, were held for more than two hours inside the Burmese embassy in Paris. Other activists were surrounded by policemen outside. RSF had gone to the embassy to deliver a letter to the Burmese ambassador. The ambassador refused to accept the letter and has threatened to file a complaint against the organisation.
RSF and the Burma Media Association noted that Win Tin, Burma’s most famous journalist, will celebrate his 75th birthday, on 12 March, in his cell in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison. Since his arrest on 4 July 1989, he has been deprived of his basic rights, in particular, the right to receive proper medical treatment and be allowed to write.
Despite recent announcements that he would be included in the release of a number of detainees, the military junta did not free this respected intellectual, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for various alleged offences, including “anti-government propaganda”.
Win Tin has had two heart attacks since he was imprisoned. For several years, the septuagenarian has frequently been treated in a Rangoon hospital, where a number of rooms are reserved for prisoners.
RSF activists gave the Burmese ambassador to France symbolic birthday presents labelled “Pens”, “Medicine” and “Newspapers”, items which the Burmese authorities have denied Win Tin for the past 16 years.
On 10 March, Burmese journalists and foreign correspondents met at the Foreign Correspondents Club in the Thai capital of Bangkok. They heard Zin Linn, one of Win Tin’s former fellow detainees, describe the man they call Saya, the Sage. They also heard Burmese reporter Khin Maung Win and British journalist Larry Jagan describe their experiences in Burma and the constraints under which the Burmese press has to work.
On 11 March, a symbolic gift for Win Tin was also presented during a press conference at the international tourism fair in Berlin by a representative of the RSF’s German section.
The Burma Media Association has devoted a special issue of its Burmese-language magazine “Oodan” entirely to Win Tin. It contains articles he wrote and tributes from Burmese writers and international figures.
RSF has also produced a Win Tin poster that shows the writer behind bars along with the words, “Happy 75th Birthday to Win Tin, in prison for the past 16 years.” RSF’s website has made Win Tin the subject of its “Journalist in the news” special page, in English, French and Spanish.
RSF and the Burma Media Association are urging people to sign an international petition that can be accessed at the RSF Website (http://www.rsf.org).
