(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 14 September 2000 CPJ news alert: BURMESE LAWYER SENTENCED TO 14 YEARS IN PRISON FOR DISTRIBUTING FOREIGN NEWS Cheng Poh’s Imprisonment Latest Sign of Burma’s Disregard for Press Freedom New York, September 14, 2000—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called yesterday’s sentencing of lawyer Cheng Poh “an outrageous violation […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 14 September 2000 CPJ news alert:
BURMESE LAWYER SENTENCED TO 14 YEARS IN PRISON FOR DISTRIBUTING FOREIGN NEWS
Cheng Poh’s Imprisonment Latest Sign of Burma’s Disregard for Press Freedom
New York, September 14, 2000—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called yesterday’s sentencing of lawyer Cheng Poh “an outrageous violation of press freedom” and expressed concerns for his safety.
Cheng Poh, 77, was sentenced to 14 years in prison yesterday for allegedly distributing foreign news articles, according to CPJ sources. Arrested in July, Cheng Poh has been detained in Rangoon’s notorious Insein Prison, prompting concerns for his health. His sentence was delivered by a special court housed inside the prison compound, The Associated Press reported.
“The sentencing of Cheng Poh is sadly typical of Burma’s miserable record on press freedom,” said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. “CPJ is outraged that Burmese citizens are deprived of their liberty for exercising their internationally guaranteed right to free expression.”
The ruling junta in Burma (officially known as Myanmar) presides over one of the world’s most repressive censorship regimes. Both print and broadcast media are tightly controlled by state censors, so many Burmese rely on what little foreign news they can get, mostly in the form of short-wave radio broadcasts produced overseas.
Cheng Poh was sentenced to two consecutive seven-year prison terms for allegedly violating the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act and the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law, both of which are regularly used against journalists and political dissidents.
Burma recently stepped up its criticism of international media after widespread international condemnation of the government’s treatment of opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. In an official statement issued last week, the Burmese government accused the foreign press of conducting a “synchronized negative media campaign” at the behest of some Western nations.
CPJ is a New York-based, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of journalists
that works to promote press freedom around the world. For more information
on press conditions in Burma, visit the CPJ web site at .
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[full text of CPJ’s letter to Senior General Than Shwe]
September 14, 2000
Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue — 12th floor
New York, NY 10001
His Excellency Senior General Than Shwe
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Union of Myanmar
Ministry of Defense
Signal Pagoda Road
Yangon, Myanmar
SENT VIA FAX: 202-332-9046 (c/o the Embassy of the Union of Myanmar)
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by the imprisonment of Cheng Poh, a lawyer who was sentenced yesterday to 14 years in jail for allegedly distributing foreign news articles.
CPJ sources confirmed that Cheng Poh was arrested in July, and has been detained for the last two months in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison. A special court housed inside the prison compound delivered the sentence yesterday, according to The Associated Press. Cheng Poh was given two consecutive seven-year prison terms under the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act and the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law, both of which are regularly used to punish journalists and political dissidents.
As an organization of journalists dedicated to the defense of our colleagues around the world, CPJ is outraged that citizens such as Cheng Poh are deprived of their internationally recognized right to freedom of expression. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that all people are free to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
Myanmar regularly violates international law by imprisoning citizens for exchanging news and information.
CPJ respectfully calls on Your Excellency to order Cheng Poh’s prompt and unconditional release, and to lift all restrictions on the free circulation of information in Myanmar.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
cc:
Southeast Asian Journalists Association
American Society of Newspaper Editors
Amnesty International
Article 19 (United Kingdom)
Artikel 19 (The Netherlands)
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Freedom Forum
Freedom House
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
International Center for Journalists
International Federation of Journalists
International PEN
International Press Institute
Harold Hongju Koh, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human
Rights, and Labor
Alain Modoux, Director, UNESCO Freedom of Expression Program
The Newspaper Guild
The North American Broadcasters Association
Overseas Press Club
Reporters Sans Frontières
Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Society of Professional Journalists
World Association of Newspapers
World Press Freedom Committee
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His Excellency Senior General Than Shwe
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Union of Myanmar
Ministry of Defense
Signal Pagoda Road
Yangon, Myanmar
Fax: +202 332 9046 (c/o the Embassy of the Union of Myanmar)
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