Political Prisoner jailed since 1999 must be freed!
There are still hundreds of political prisoners in Burma’s
jails and all the repressive laws that put them in prison still remain in
place.
Aung Naing is an
activist from Burma, and he is a son of U Kyaw Min, who is a former political
prisoner. In 1999, Aung Naing was
arrested for his involvement in a student protest the previous year. He was
falsely accused of possessing drugs and charged under the Narcotics Act. He was
sentenced to 26 years in prison with hard labour in Insein Prison.
Take action to free Aung Naing here:
In 2005, his
family members, including his father, were arrested and Aung Naing was put on
trial again along with his family. They all were charged with two counts
including under Section 18 of the 1982 Citizenship Law with the accusation of
obtaining Burmese citizenship and concealing their Rohingya origins. The entire
family is from the Rohingya ethnic minority group.
The Citizenship
Law introduced by General Ne Win in 1982 is not compatible with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights or with Burma’s legal obligations under
international treaties. It arbitrarily stripped many people in Burma of the
right to citizenship.
According to the
verdict from the 2005 trial, 17 more years were added to Aung Naing’s existing
26-year prison sentence. However, due to a Presidential amnesty, Aung Naing
received a reduction on his prison sentence to 17 years. His family were
released in 2012 but he still remains in jail. According to his family members,
he has been suffering from heart problems and he urgently needs an eye
operation.
Please write to British Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire
MP asking him to take action to secure the immediate release of Aung Naing and for the release of all
of Burma’s remaining political prisoners:
Take action here:
Thank you.
Wai Hnin
Burma Campaign UK
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