Until his arrest in June of this year, he had become a reliable source of information in a country strangled by censorship and repression.
– A special court in Insein prison sentenced 28-year-old blogger Nay Phone Latt on 10 November 2008 to 20 years and six months in prison on a charge of violating the Electronic Act, which provides for severe penalties for those who use the Internet to criticise the government.
Åse Sand, Information Director at the Norwegian Burma Committee, adds that close to all leading political oppositionals who were arrested in the wake of the massive demonstrations in September 2007, have received life sentences this autumn. The sentences range upwards to 68 years. The heavy clampdown is seen in relation with the elections planned for 2010, which the country’s military junta wishes to entirely control.
The winners of the Reporters Without Borders Prize are chosen by an international jury.
The Norwegian Burma Committee (NBC) has an article in Norwegian about Zarganar at its website www.burma.no. To read the article, click here. NBC’s press release on the Zarganar case is available here.
NRK, the Norwegian broadcasting corporation, has reported, also in Norwegian, on Nay Phone Latt. To read this article, click here.
For further information from IFEX on the Zarganar case, click here.
For further information on the Nay Phone Latt case, click here.
For further information, CS 90247 – 75083 Paris Cedex 02 France,
tel: +33 1 44 83 84 70 , fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: asia@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org
