(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF press release: 14 June 2001 Editor and member of parliament Soe Thein released at the end of his sentence At least twelve journalists are still in jail After five years in prison, editor and member of parliament Maung Wuntha, well known under his pen name Soe Thein, was […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF press release:
14 June 2001
Editor and member of parliament Soe Thein released at the end of his sentence
At least twelve journalists are still in jail
After five years in prison, editor and member of parliament Maung Wuntha, well known under his pen name Soe Thein, was released from Insein jail (Rangoon) on 13 June 2001. According to information collected by Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF – Reporters Without Borders), the decision came after Soe Thein’s wife sent a letter to military authorities asking them to release him at the end of his sentence. Unlike Soe Thein, many political prisoners have been handed additional jail sentences just before their release dates.
Obviously, Reporters Sans Frontières welcomes this release, but regrets that it happened so late. Soe Thein, editor of the magazine Ah-twe-Ah-myin (The Thought), was arrested on 21 May 1996 and sentenced in June 1996 to five years in jail under Article 10/A of the 1975 State Protection Law. The authorities accused him of writing and publishing articles that defended the “peaceful resistance” led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). During his detention, Soe Thein had two heart attacks, and was psychologically tortured by guards and Military Intelligence (MI) agents present in the prison.
RSF and European Member of Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit intervened on Soe Thein’s behalf on 16 October 2000, after he suffered a heart attack in his cell at Insein prison. The journalist was admitted to the intensive care facility of Rangoon general hospital. However, a few days later, Soe Thein was sent back to the Insein prison hospital, where medical attention is very limited. In addition to high blood pressure, Soe Thein has a very serious stomach disease. The prison authorities refused to give him the appropriate medical treatment.
A least twelve media professionals are still in jail in Burma, including San San Nweh, who won the RSF – Fondation de France Prize 1999. She was arrested on 5 August 1994, and sentenced in October 1994 to ten years in jail for “producing and sending anti-government reports”, most notably to foreign journalists, and trying “to foment trouble.” During her seven years in jail, the journalist has suffered from several diseases, including high blood pressure, kidney infection and thrombocytopenia (an abnormally low number of platelets in the blood). RSF requests the immediate release of all the media professionals detained and the abrogation of the repressive press laws.
According to a recent report by Amnesty International, more than 1,500 political prisoners are currently detained in Burma. Most of them were tortured during their interrogations and are victims of poor prison conditions. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma (AAPPB), eighty-eight opposition members of Parliament who were elected in 1990 are still in jail or under house arrest. Three more MPs died during their detention.
