A BBC reporter has been jailed in Myanmar for three months with hard labour after he was convicted of attacking a policeman when covering student protests, his defence lawyer has said.
The scuffle between Nay Myo Lin and the police officer broke out after the officer, standing in the middle of a moving motorcade, knocked a man off a motorbike, Thein Than Oo, the defence lawyer, told Reuters.
The BBC and the reporter’s lawyer, Thein Than Oo, said there would be an appeal.
BBC statement on my colleague Nay Linn. Convicted for striking a policeman and jailed for 3 months with hard labour. pic.twitter.com/RCQk2lNw7O
— Jonah Fisher (@JonahFisherBBC) June 7, 2016
Nay Myo Lin was arrested during a march by students on Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, in March 2016 against an education bill they said would stifle academic freedom.
The march was brutally broken up by police before reaching its destination, with riot squads charging people with batons. Many student activists are still on trial though dozens have been released under a pledge by Aung San Suu Kyi.
“It’s not fair at all to charge me under section 332 after ignoring the policeman’s unjust act of pulling down the motorcycle of a protesting student,” Nay Myo Lin told local media after the verdict, referring to the section of the penal code under which he was sentenced.
“I didn’t mean to hurt that policeman. I just tried to give protection to a citizen who was being treated unjustly in my presence,” said the reporter, adding that “the police must have applied pressure on the court” to pass a three-month sentence.
Police Colonel Zaw Khin Aung from the Naypyitaw-based Myanmar police headquarters rejected this. “It’s quite impossible for the police to influence the court. It’s just up to the judge to lead the hearing and to make the final decision on the judgment,” said Zaw Khin Aung.
Both police and the judiciary are overseen by Myanmar’s home ministry, which is directly controlled by the armed forces.
Reuters
