Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission is pleased to inform you that on Monday, 2 April 2007, the criminal charge against a man who satirised state media in Burma was dropped by the local court. U Thein Zan was released to the applause of a large number of supporters and well-wishers. It appears that persons connected with some parts of the government were involved in ensuring his release.
As we reported previously, Thein Zan was arrested on 5 March 2007 for defacing state propaganda articles and pasting them to the fence of his suburban Rangoon house (UA-078-2007). He had been denied bail by the court but on March 28 two strangers came to his house and went with his family to arrange for his release (UP-046-2007).
On April 2, the day of the next scheduled date in the hearings, the two men came to the house in a Land Rover and went with the family to the Thingankyun Township Court, which promptly dismissed the charge of upsetting public tranquillity (section 505 of the Penal Code). After his release, Thein Zan thanked everyone who had supported him.
The reasons for the sudden turnaround in the position of the court and the appearance of the two “businessmen” remain unclear; however, it is certain that some part of the government was involved in stopping the case from proceeding. Some informed observers have suggested that there was a conflict between the local council and police over the matter.
The release of Thein Zan follows a number of other recent favourable decisions towards human rights defenders, including the release of farmers Daw Khin Win (UP-050-2007) and U Tin Nyein (UP-018-2007) from imprisonment on appeal.
For further details of the arbitrary legal system in Burma, please visit the AHRC Burma homepage, http://burma.ahrchk.net, or read our 2006 country report: http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2006/Burma2006.pdf
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
