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Support Burmese
sports journalist Zaw Thet Htwe sentenced to three years
in prison
Amnesty International and
Reporters Without Borders are launching a petition for
the release of Zaw Thet Htwe (picture), the editor of
Burmese sports magazine. He was sentenced to three years
in prison for exposing irregularities by Burmese sports
officials.
Amnesty International
and Reporters Without Borders are calling on sports
journalists to give their support to imprisoned Burmese
sports editor Zaw Thet Htwe and seven law students
during the European Football Championships in Portugal.
Zaw Thet Htwe is the
editor of a popular Burmese sports magazine First
Eleven. He was initially sentenced to death in November
2003 but his sentence was reduced to three years
imprisonment on 12 May 2004. International pressure
helped to contribute to the commutation of his sentence.
With your help we could secure his full release.
The military junta
accused Zaw Thet Htwe of involvement in a "conspiracy"
against the government and charged him with "high
treason". However Amnesty International and Reporters
without Borders believe that he is a prisoner of
conscience, arrested for exercising his right to freedom
of expression. He had reportedly taken the risk of
exposing irregularities on the part of Burmese sports
officials.
The seven law students,
who have been in detention since June 2003, are believed
to have been arrested because they set up a student
sports union in their university without official
permission. Aung Gyi, Aung Ko Lwin, Kyaw Maung, Myo
Myint Tun, Myo Than Htut, Nang Siang None and Win Htut
Lwin were sentenced to terms of between seven and
fifteen years' imprisonment and were reportedly
ill-treated after their arrest.
They are among more than
1,350 political prisoners detained in Myanmar, many of
whom have been arrested for their peaceful political
activities.
Sign the
petition online
Reporters Without
Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press freedom
throughout the world, as well as the right to inform the
public and to be informed, in accordance with Article 19
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Reporters
Without borders has nine national sections (in Austria,
Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), representatives in
Abidjan, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Montreal,
Moscow, New York, Tokyo and Washington and more than a
hundred correspondents worldwide.
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