Myanmar journalist jailed
for covering cyclone relief protest
DPA
Yangon,
Nov 14 (DPA) A young female journalist who attempted to cover
a protest by a group of Myanmar's Cyclone Nargis victims was
sentenced to two years in prison Friday, sources confirmed.
Eine
Khaing Oo, 21, was arrested June 10 when she tried to cover
a rare protest in front of the head office of United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) in Yangon by a group of Nargis-victims
from South Dagon Township, a new satellite town for the poor.
Tamwe
Township Court found Eine Khaing Oo undermining national security.
She had worked as a junior reporter for Eco Vision magazine
for two weeks prior to her detention, media sources said.
Myanmar,
which has been under military rule since 1962, is notoriously
lacking in a free press.
The
ruling regime was harshly criticized by the international
community for impeding the inflow of aid to victims of Cyclone
Nargis, which smashed into Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta on May
2-3, leaving about 140,000 dead or missing.
The
junta was reluctant to allow a massive inflow of foreign aid
workers to the cyclone devastated region because of its long-held
dread of outsiders and its cynical goal to push through a
national referendum on a pro-military constitution that happened
to be scheduled for mid-May.
Authorities
refused to postpone the referendum, despite suffering the
worst natural catastrophe in recent history.
On
Friday, the Tamwe Township Court also sentenced Kyaw Kyaw
Thant, the leader of the cyclone protest, to seven years in
jail, and Win Myint, who had posted a letter complaining of
the junta's poor relief efforts, to two years in jail, lawyers
said.
Indo-Asian
News Service
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