RSS Feed for This PostCurrent Article

Burmese Blogger Arrested, Others in Hiding

Update: From Mizzima News.

Authorities at Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison for the first time allowed family members a meeting with detained Burmese blogger Nay Phone Latt.

Daw Khin Than, mother of Nay Phone Latt (Nay Myo Kyaw), and his brother went to the prison on Monday after Thingan Kyun Township police informed them that the Burmese blogger was being held in Insein, sources close to the family said.

Update: RSF now reports that Nya has been sent to Insein prison.

***

Update: RSF has confirmed that Nya has in fact been arrested and is now being charged.

Nay Phone Latt, the blogger and Internet café owner who has been held at the interior ministry since 29 January, has been charged under section 5 (J) of the Emergency Provision Act of 1950.

It provides for up to seven years’ imprisonment for anyone who “causes or intends to disrupt the morality or the behaviour of a group of people or the general public, or to disrupt the security or the reconstruction of stability of the union.” Adopted two years after independence, the law is often applied to journalists and writers.

***

Update: From Niknayman.

Even though some medias published that Nya Phone Latt has been taken by the authority, we can’t confirm yet that he is arrested. The comment of BarNyar is correct. The bloggers inside Burma are dare to fight the military regime and not run away anywhere. We will let you know if something is happened in Burma regarding to bloggers inside Burma.

***

According to Mizzima (via Burmanet), blogger Nay Phone Latt was arrested earlier today at an Internet cafe in Thingan Kyun TownshipRangoon.

A blogger, who requested anonymity in fear of reprisals, said, “At the moment we [bloggers] are fleeing in the wake of the arrest of Ko Nay Phone Latt.” . . . Another blogger said he believes the authorities have targeted bloggers and confirmed that fellow bloggers are on the run in fear of arrests.

Internet users in Rangoon said, over a few weeks ago, authorities have stepped up surveillance of internet users and asked internet café owners to maintain strict records of users.

Blogging, which is popular among Burmese youth, has become a dangerous pastime in the country. The authority’s stranglehold over information flow remains as tight as ever and there is zero tolerance over any critical writing.

During the September protests, a Burmese blogger Thar Phyu, who has a blogsite www.mogokemedia.blogspot.com, was arrested and briefly detained for posting pictures of monks and people demonstrating on the streets.

Via email on January 20th, another Burmese blogger, Niknayman, wrote us about the steps the tinhorns had taken during the crackdown and how they continued those measures. Direct action is now being taken.

It seems obvious the tinhorns were hoping that once Burma had dropped from the news headlines, they’d be able to go about their business in secret. Not so. Let’s make sure they are aware we know about Nay Phone Latt.

Trackback URL

RSS Feed for This Post1 Comment(s)

  1. Simon Columbus | Jan 29, 2008 | Reply

    I’ve just added Nay Phone Latt to my list of arrested bloggers. Let’s hope he’ll get freed soon - our fellow bloggers in Burma can be assured of our support.

2 Trackback(s)

  1. From BLOG 4 BURMA : Heute kassieren sie Blogspot und morgen die Blogger selbst at in|ad|ae|qu|at | Feb 2, 2008
  2. From BLOG 4 BURMA : Free Nay Phone Latt at in|ad|ae|qu|at | Feb 2, 2008

RSS Feed for This PostPost a Comment