Burma: Journalist Min Zin released, three others still missing | Burma |
New York, October 4, 2007 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is
increasingly concerned about the welfare of at least three Burmese
reporters who went missing during the government's crackdown on
street
protesters last week. A fourth reporter, Tokyo Shimbun's Min Zin, was
released from government custody on Wednesday. CPJ calls on the
Burmese
authorities to immediately release all journalists they are
holding.
CPJ is investigating whether the three missing journalists were
detained
when the government rounded up more than 1,000 people in its crackdown
on
street protests. The three are Kyaw Zeya Tun from The Voice journal,
Nay
Lin Aung from the Seven Day News journal, and an unidentified
journalist
from the Weekly Eleven News journal.
"While we welcome the release of Min Zin, he never should have been
detained in the first place," said Joel Simon, CPJ's executive
director,
"CPJ calls on the Burmese authorities to properly account for and
immediately release any other journalists in detention."
According to news reports, a military official brought Min Zin back to
his
home in Rangoon on Wednesday. He had been held in detention for six
days
and was questioned about a trip that Koji Hirata, Tokyo Shimbun's
Bangkok-based bureau chief, made to Rangoon on September 24 to cover
the
anti-government protests. Hirata was forced to leave the country on
September 26 after government officials tracked him down at his
hotel.
It was unclear if authorities intend to press charges against Min Zin,
who
is a Burmese national. He suffers from a diabetic condition and
requires
treatment for an ulcer that was aggravated in detention, according to
his
wife, who was quoted in news reports.
Before last week's crackdown, there were at least six journalists
imprisoned in Burma, according to CPJ research. In recent weeks,
plainclothes agents have physically harassed and intimidated
reporters
trying to cover anti-government street demonstrations.
Japanese photographer, Kenji Nagai, 50, who was working for
Tokyo-based
video and photo agency APF News, was killed when troops opened fire
on
crowds on Thursday. Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said
yesterday that Japan was preparing to suspend certain financial
assistance
to Burma in protest.
For further information, contact Asia Program Coordinator Bob Dietz or
Asia
Program Researcher Madeline Earp at CPJ, 330 Seventh Avenue, New York,
NY
10001, USA., tel: +1 212 465 1004, fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail:
bdietz@cpj.org, mearp@cpj.org, Internet: http://www.cpj.org/
The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of
CPJ.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
CPJ.
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